


The Consequences of A Binding Ritual

by teecup_angel



Series: Consequences of A Binding Ritual [2]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: ... I'll add more tags as I go along, ... a bit, ... kinda, ... later on, Acting, Dark!Harry, Goblet of Fire AU, M/M, Marriage, Mpreg, Sexual Fantasy, apathetic!Harry, grey!Harry, insane!Harry, might include some bashing to some characters, or maybe
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-06-21
Updated: 2016-09-18
Packaged: 2018-04-05 10:58:07
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 33
Words: 171,023
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4177266
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/teecup_angel/pseuds/teecup_angel
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Forced to be the fourth champion in the Triwizard Tournament and shunned by Hogwarts and the rest of  the Wizarding World, Harry finds comfort in the silence of the Chambers of Secrets.  Explorations of the Chambers turns up more rooms and information than he expected. One of which is a ritual that is called 'Slytherin Binding Ritual'.  Thinking it meant binding Salazar Slytherin's ghost to him and thinking 'meh, not like I'm gonna lose anything', Harry performs the ritual without even thinking of researching more about it.</p><p>He forgot one of the most important thing in the world.</p><p>He's Fate's personal chew toy.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Once Upon a Time... and Stuff

**Author's Note:**

> Yeeaahhh. Pretty sure this isn't exactly new. This is really just a plot bunny that refuses to let go so mainly guilty pleasure for me (Harry goes 'fuck you' at everyone in Goblet of Fire because god damn it, that shit is just not fair).
> 
> Updates will probably coincide with my SNK fanfics unless stated otherwise (otherwise meaning 'SNK takes priority, sorry')
> 
>  
> 
>  
> 
> “This is speaking in English”  
> “<< This is speaking in Parseltongue >>”  
> “This is speaking in English <<then in Parseltongue >> then back to English... just to be clear...”
> 
>  
> 
> Warning that applies to every chapter:  
> 1\. This takes place after Rita publishes her 'interview' during the wand inspection scene but before Harry finds out about the dragons  
> 2\. Most things are based on how I remember the books and movies so yeah... probably not exactly canon compliant. Any changes could be attributed to this being an alternate universe instead of canon divergences (primary example: Harry's library story of Chapter 1)  
> 3\. This is probably not British English. I don't even know if you can count is as American English. But, hey, at least, it's English?  
> 4\. Everyone is an ass to Harry (or, at least, Harry thinks they are) so there may be bashing to various characters  
> 5\. Still unsure if Harry will be Dark!Harry or Grey!Harry....... darkGrey!Harry?  
> 6\. This is a “Harry pretending to be the goodie-two-shoes Gryffindor” plot  
> 7\. … with a dose of “apathetic (I don't give a shit) Harry” and “playful sadistic Harry”  
> 8\. Voldemort may appear sane... kinda...  
> 9\. Narration is based on Harry's POV. While narration is in 3rd POV, it will contain some of Harry's internal musing which leads to warning no. 10  
> 10\. Harry's internal musing is sometimes weird (so maybe this also has a dose of “insane Harry”?)  
> 11\. This will contain sex with a minor (Harry is 14) and mpreg later  
> 12\. Sorta dark story, I guess?  
> 13\. No, seriously... I'm not sure how this is going to go. I have an outline but no real chapter flow or anything  
> 14\. Just enjoy the ride with me, mmkay?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry summons his death. (Not 'Death' but 'his death'... just to be clear)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning for this chapter:  
> 1 unbeta'ed but that's already given  
> 2 so, so many dialogues

Harry should have realized that this unfortunate situation was bound to happen since he was as unlucky as one can be (or was it more accurate to say he was the unluckiest person in the entire world? And that was after counting a Dark Lord who was currently clinging to life like a bloody parasite).

 

If he knew about the Felix Felicis, he would have commented how his mother must have drank an insane amount of the opposite of that potion (was there such a thing as 'unlucky' potion?) while he was in her womb.

 

Hell. Considering how much Snape hated him, Harry wouldn't be surprised if the greasy git had actually found a way to administer that kind of potion during his development all because he was the (unborn) spawn of James Potter.

 

But that was a thought he would muse about for another day...

 

... if he happened to stay alive today, that is.

 

Because, no matter how Gryffindor he supposedly was (in Harry's defense, most of his Gryffindorian acts were due to uncontrolled circumstance brought by his associations with the more Gryffindorian idiots he surrounds himself with), Harry would not intentionally summon his death.

 

"Harry Potter..."

 

Oh, look. His death has greeted him.

 

"Voldemort." Harry nodded slightly as he greeted the man currently smirking at him.

 

Yup.

 

Harry finally done something stupider than that one time he intentionally added laxative on the Dursley's food that one time.

 

"While it is a quite a surprise to see you in this form, nonetheless-"

 

And, Harry had to admit, quite a form that was. Voldemort looked like how Harry imagined Tom Riddle will look like if he was around his middle 30s with his wavy black hair that looked so soft... not to mention neat (Harry internally grumbled about his Potter hair at that thought) and around 6 foot height (Harry was approximating, it's not like he can accurately measure heights without any help). Unlike the blue eyes Tom Riddle had back in the Chambers, he had unnatural red eyes reminding Harry of the blood red roses he grew in Privet Drive. Voldemort (or should he call him Tom?) wore a sleek looking black long sleeved robe that was buttoned up till his neck and parted to the side by his knees. Harry could see black trousers underneath.

 

And he wore no shoes or any kind of footwear.

 

Meh. To each their own, he supposed.

 

Harry would rather not be barefooted to be honest.

 

It seemed... unhygienic.

 

Especially considering he didn't know who cleaned what he was stepping on and when was the last time they cleaned the damn floor.

 

… Did house-elves even clean around here?

 

But he was getting off topic (who knew barefooted would actually make Harry think?)

 

If anybody asked, Harry did not have a death wish. Unfortunately, the fact that Voldemort was right in front of him while he was tired as hell (who knew rituals would suck most of his magical reserves?) in a place only he could access meant that he wasn't going to survive this encounter.

 

And he needed an excuse to stop thinking about the pros and cons of being barefooted...

 

So... what the hell!

 

Might as well finally say whatever the hell he wanted.

 

"You do know there are more colors than black, right?" Harry deadpanned which also sounded a bit tired in his own ear. Unconsciously, one of his eyebrow rose as he said those words.

 

Voldemort actually stared at him with a look that could only be described as surprised.

 

Oh dear...

 

Who knew that commenting about the Dark Lord's clothes would actually stupefy him?

 

If Harry wasn't magically exhausted right now, he would have disarmed or stunned the Dark Lord and ran as fast as he could...

 

Oh well...

 

At least he was able to acquire a memory of stunning the Dark Lord into silence.

 

"You insolent brat." Voldemort sneered, grabbing Harry's own wand from the floor and aiming it towards Harry.

 

Harry stared at the wand, internally musing at his current situation.

 

So this was how he was going to die.

 

At the hands of the Dark Lord using his own wand which he had stupidly left on the floor during the ritual.

 

Wasn't that wand supposed to be loyal to him?

 

Would it be acceptable to say 'Et tu, wand?' in this case?

 

Damn.

 

He should have named his wand.

 

Because, in all honesty, 'Et tu, wand' sounds weird even by Harry's standard.

 

And Harry's 'weird standard' is already skewered.

 

Once more, Harry tried to focus on the fact that he was going to die (and not about barefoot and traitorous wands).

 

Hopefully, he could become a ghost and haunt Voldemort.

 

It would be a riot.

 

Voldemort wouldn't be able to get rid of him and he can annoy his killer as much as he want.

 

Maybe thwart some of his plans if he gets bored enough.

 

If not, hopefully, he could haunt Hogwarts.

 

Oh, how fun that would be.

 

He could spend his entire day, haunting Dumbledore, whispering to him in a ghostly tone how this entire thing was definitely his fault.

 

He could haunt Ron and Hermione too.

 

Oh yes.

 

He could have his petty revenge on his so-called friends.

 

Aaaahhh.

 

He could see Hermione breaking down and crying, begging for his forgiveness.

 

Ron would most certainly break down too. Maybe start of angry and righteous but he'll break.

 

Oh, he will definitely break.

 

Ooooohhh.

 

He could even haunt Malfoy and the other Slytherins.

 

Maybe annoy them by speaking his mind of how pathetic they are with their bullying.

 

If that was Slytherin's cunning ways then Salazar must be so, so disappointed in them.

 

It's the inbreeding... most definitely the inbreeding...

 

If he gets bored, haunting Snape would be a good idea too.

 

What was the worst thing he could do?

 

Deduct points to Gryffindor?

 

As if Harry would feel bad about that.

 

The only reason why he even cared was because his housemates would have made his life hell if he kept deducting stupid house points.

 

If it was up to Harry, he would ha-

 

…

 

…

 

...

 

Was he... still alive?

 

Harry finally stopped his musing and tried to focus on his senses.

 

He was still standing...

 

He was still facing Voldemort...

 

He could still hear his heart beating...

 

Huh...

 

Harry blinked and tilted his head as he asked, "You're... not killing me?"

 

Voldemort looked like he ate an extremely sour lemon drop as he hissed, "I... am trying..."

 

As if to prove a point, Voldemort shouted, "Avada Kedavra!"

 

Harry instinctively closed his eyes and waited for death (... not that he knew what to look for).

 

After a few seconds of the loud beating of his heart, Harry finally opened his eyes and looked down.

 

Still corporal...

 

Harry raised his head to stare at Voldemort who looked like he couldn't decide if he should be frustrated or confused at Harry's... current status.

 

Harry patted his chest briefly before saying, "Still alive."

 

"I can see that." Voldemort sneered before shouting, "Crucio!"

 

Harry closed his eyes once more, waiting for the pain...

 

... that never came...

 

Harry opened his eyes slowly, staring at Voldemort for a few seconds before he finally commented, "Eer... I don't feel anything... Maybe-"

 

Before Harry could even close his mouth, Voldemort began casting different dark curses and hexes that would have tripped the wards had they not been where they were currently in. Harry's breath hitched as he finally managed to keep his eyes opened and saw what had happened to all the spells Voldemort had tried to hit Harry with.

 

The spells flew out of Voldemort's wand, flying straight through him then... disperse in front of him.

 

Unlike a Protego spell that bounces the spells away, the spells simply disperse to dust like particles in all directions.

 

Harry could only stare in front of him with an open mouth as Voldemort let out a loud frustrated scream that echoed all over the chamber.

 

The echo seemed to finally attract Voldemort to actually look around and not just focus on the boy who seemed to just won't die (or be tortured or hexed or cursed or whatever Voldemort wanted to do to him at the moment).

 

Before Harry could react, Voldemort had briskly walked towards him and grabbed his arm as he hissed, "Why are we in Salazar's ritual chamber?"

 

"Is that what this room is called?" Harry asked back, blinking in confusion at the absurdity of his current situation.

 

"Yes, you foolish child!" Harry frowned at the insult but did not say anything as Voldemort continued, "This chamber is in the Chambers of Secret! How did you get here?!"

 

Harry rolled his eyes and drawled, "I found it a week ago while walking around the Chambers."

 

"How did you get to the Chambers?!"

 

Finally getting annoyed with the insistent death grip on his arm, Harry glared at Voldemort and hissed in Parseltongue, "<<The same way you did, Tom.>>"

 

Harry couldn't help but raise an eyebrow when Voldemort suddenly let go of him and back away as if he had been burned by Harry's words. They stared at each other for a few minutes, Voldemort with an expression that seemed to be a mix of confusion and intrigue while Harry with an expression that just screamed "well? what now?"

 

Finally, Voldemort said in a tone that didn't even try to hide his disbelief, "<<You're a Parselmouth.>>"

 

Harry rolled his eyes and retorted in a deadpan tone, "<<No, Tom. I'm making random hisses in an effort to make it sound like I can talk to snakes.>>"

 

Voldemort glared at him and hissed back, "<<Mind your tongue, child, or I'll->>"

 

"<<Do what?>>" Harry cut him off, glaring at him as well as he continued in an annoyed mocking tone, "<<Strike me with an Avada Kedavra? Crucio me? Unless you've gone senile due to your real old age, you should still remember how none of your curses or hexes manage to even hit me.>>"

 

Voldemort waved his wand which made Harry take a step back instinctively. One of the daggers dropped against the wall (there were daggers on the wall?!) levitated in the air.

 

Harry's eyes widened as he realized that Voldemort just cast a nonverbal Wingardium Leviosa.

 

Before Harry could comment on how cool that was, Voldemort swiped his hand towards him and the dagger flew across the air, straight towards Harry in an alarming speed. Harry ducked, covering his head with his hands, and evaded the incoming dagger. Voldemort swiped his wand once more and the dagger froze in midair. Voldemort aimed his wand at Harry, making Harry's eyes widened once more. The dagger flew towards Harry once more and the young Gryffindor rolled to his side. The dagger curved at the last moment, performing what could only be a dagger equivalent of a Wronski Feint.

 

Knowing there was no way he could dodge the dagger, Harry raised his arms towards his face and prepared to try and grab the dagger before it harms him.

 

Apparently, all his pathetic dodging were for nothing since the dagger stopped just in front of Harry, hovering in the air for a second before dropping to the floor with a loud clang.

 

Harry blinked at the dagger for a few seconds before raising his head to stare at Voldemort. Voldemort stared at back at him, wand still aimed at Harry, with an expression that could only be described as confusion. Harry sheepishly grinned and asked, "Sooo... I guess you weren't the one to drop the dagger?"

 

The next words that came out of Voldemort's mouth were curses of different languages which Harry only realized because he started with English then switched to Parseltongue (which just translated to English to Harry) then to different other languages.

 

Apparently the Dark Lord was multilingual.

 

... Harry may be a bit jealous at that since he only knows two languages...

 

But his lack of motivation (laziness) heavily outweigh his slight jealousy.

 

Harry rolled his eyes and laid back on the cold floor, memorizing the different curses Voldemort was spewing out of frustrations instead.

 

Who knows?

 

Maybe he could use some of them to Malfoy when he gets annoyed enough. Someone as spoiled and 'privileged' as the blond prat is bound to recognize at least one of them. If not, he can insult Malfoy by insulting him over how his pure-blood status didn't get him to learn other languages or some other childish insult that will rile up the damn ferret.

Hell, he can try and insult Fleur in French next time she decides to show how much she loves the fact Harry is a champion.

 

Voldemort finally stopped talking and Harry mentally counted up to three before raising his head to look at the frustrated Dark Lord. He raised an eyebrow as he asked, "Got it out of your system?"

 

Voldemort glared at him and hissed as he walked towards Harry, "<<Why won't you die?!>>"

 

Harry stood and placed in hands in front of him as he mocked, "<<I don't know. Isn't that like one of the greatest Wizarding mystery of all time?>>"

 

Harry sighed and shrugged as he commented tiredly, "<<Maybe you're having a bad day?>>"

 

Voldemort gripped his arm once more and asked, "<<What did you do?!>>"

 

Harry glared as he hissed back, "<<Oh sure. You can't kill me so that means I did something... again!>>"

 

"<<It's most probably you!>>" Voldemort retorted, glaring at Harry as he pulled on the younger man's arm, <<I haven't done any spells or rituals which would give me this kind of body nor would take me to the Chambers!>>"

 

"<<Well I haven't done any spells or ri->>" Harry stopped, frowning as he stared at Voldemort. His eyes slowly widened as he finally remembered what he had been doing before Voldemort came into the magic circle.

 

He had been trying to summon a Slytherin.

 

... he had expected to summon the ghost of Salazar Slytherin because that was the first Slytherin that popped into his mind.

 

"Oooohhh..." Harry drawled, nodding dumbly as he remembered, "You're a Slytherin..."

 

"Of course I was a Slytherin." Harry wondered if Voldemort was confused over Harry's nonchalant comment considering the older man didn't seem to realize that they had switched to English.

 

Harry shook his head and poked Voldemort on the chest as he corrected, "No, I meant you're a Slytherin... as in... a blood relative of Salazar Slytherin."

 

"How did you-"

 

"Oh..." Harry's eyes widened as he whispered, "Well... this is awkward."

 

Voldemort raised an eyebrow at Harry's words but kept quiet once he heard Harry groan and place his hands over his face. Harry shook his head and bemoaned tiredly, "Of course something like this would happen to me."

 

Voldemort let go of Harry and the younger man walked out of the room mumbling something sounding like 'forget the DADA curse, I'm the real cursed one here. This bloody luck of mine has got to be a curse' much to Voldemort's confusion. Voldemort followed him to the adjoining personal library of Salazar Slytherin. He found the black haired menace (bane of his existence) sitting on the couch he had usually sat back in his youth when he had spent hours in this same library. Harry was looking at him with a tired resigned look in his eyes but he was biting his bottom lip as if he was nervous over something. Voldemort noticed the tome sitting innocently on his lap and recognized it as a book of rituals which uses both Parseltongue and Parselscript to work. He raised his eyes to glare at Harry and hissed, "What ritual did you botch?"

 

Harry gave him a sheepish grin as he retorted awkwardly, "Weeellll... I didn't exactly... botch it... per say..."

 

Voldemort's glare only intensified as he demanded, "Then what ritual did you perform?!"

 

Harry bit his bottom lip once more before replying with a wince, "The... Slytherin... Binding... ritual...?"

 

Voldemort stared at him for a few seconds before hissing, "Let me get this straight... you bound me... to you?!"

 

Harry flipped the tome open to the page where he saw the ritual and ranted, "It's not like I was thinking of you when I read this ritual. I mean, it said '<<to bind Slytherin to you>>'. I thought it meant the ghost of Salazar Slytherin! Or, at worst, a person that was sorted to Slytherin!"

 

"When it said Slytherin, it means one with Slytherin blood alive, you foolish child!"

 

"Well it should have said that! I mean, how hard would it be to actually say '<<to bind a living person with Slytherin blood to you>>' in this curvy wobbly script, anyway?!" Harry retorted, groaning as he rubbed his forehead, "I was expecting to be bound to Salazar's ghost."

 

Voldemort hissed as he glared at Harry, "Why, in Salazar's name, would you want that?"

 

Harry shrugged and replied tiredly, "I dunno. Thought it would be funny."

 

"YOU THOUGHT IT WOULD BE FUNNY?!!"

 

Harry groaned and hid his face with his hands as he added, "And maybe I thought Salazar Slytherin could help me!"

 

"With what? With your potions assignment?!" Voldemort angrily mocked.

 

"With keeping my sanity!!!" Harry shouted, finally having enough of Voldemort's shouting.

 

They stared at one another, breathing heavily. Voldemort took a deep breath before waving his hand towards one of the chairs on the other side of the room. The chair slid towards his side and Voldemort gracefully sat on it. He crossed his right leg over his left and rubbed his forehead as he ordered, "Start from the beginning."

 

Harry raised an eyebrow as he asked in a bitter tone, "You have time? 'Cause it's gonna be long..."

 

Voldemort glared at him and retorted, "You bound me to you, Potter. I can't leave you even if I wanted to."

 

"Oh." Harry leaned back and placed his hands over his stomach as he commented, "Well then... Dobby!"

 

Voldemort watched as a house-elf popped between them, staring at Harry with wide hero-worshiping eyes, "What can Dobby be doing for the great Harry Potter?"

 

Harry smiled sweetly at Dobby and requested, "Would you be so kind to bring tea and some biscuits for both me and my guest? Maybe a slice of pumpkin pie or two?"

 

Harry tilted his head and added worriedly, "Of course, only if it's not too troublesome."

 

Voldemort raised an eyebrow but simply watched as the house-elf grabbed his ears and replied immediately, "It would be Dobby's honor to grant great Harry Potter's request! Oh! Dobby be bringing it right away!"

 

Harry didn't bother to reply considering it was moot anyway since Dobby immediately disappeared after saying those lines. He saw Voldemort open his mouth but stopped him by raising his hand tiredly.

 

A dark red table filled with different biscuits, cookies and other desserts appeared before them with a loud pop. Dobby appeared once more, carrying a tea kettle. Dobby snapped his fingers and two cups with coasters appeared in front of him, floating in the air. Dobby poured hot tea in the cups and they floated towards Harry and Voldemort. Both men grabbed the tea and coaster as they hovered in front of them. Harry smiled softly at Dobby and said gently, "Thank you, Dobby. Please leave the kettle on the table."

 

Once Dobby placed the kettle on the table, making space from all the delicious looking treats, Harry added, "You're the best."

 

The house-elf looked like he was ready to hyperventilate over Harry's praise but Harry beat him to it by saying gently, "I would appreciate it if you keep this a secret, Dobby? You're the only one I can trust."

 

"Yes, anything for the great Harry Potter! Dobby is be silent as a lamb, yes he will!" Dobby nodded vigorously.

 

Harry continued to smile softly as he said, "Thank you, Dobby. Now, run along. We don't want anyone getting suspicious now, do we?"

 

"Yes, of course! If Harry Potter need anything else, please call Dobby!" Dobby enthusiastically offered, bobbing his head.

 

"I will. Thank you, Dobby." Harry replied with a a nod.

 

With that said, Dobby disappeared with a pop once more.

 

Harry leaned back and sighed tiredly before sipping his tea. He raised his head and finally saw Voldemort looking at him with an expression that seemed to be... amused?

 

"You have a personal house-elf." Voldemort commented with a raised eyebrow.

 

"Nope." Harry retorted, popping the 'p', before correcting, "Dobby's a free elf being employed by Hogwarts."

 

"That you have doing all your whims and wishes." Voldemort retorted, still sounding more amused than annoyed.

 

Harry grinned as he commented slyly, "Oh? And who would believe that the boy-who-lived, idiot goodie two-shoes Gryffindor, would take advantage of a house-elf's hero worship?"

 

"Are you saying you're not an idiot goodie two-shoes Gryffindor?" Voldemort asked, letting go of his cup and coaster. They floated in front of him and Voldemort lazily waved his hand. The cup and coaster floated towards his right side.

 

Harry inwardly scoffed at the blatant display of nonverbal magic.

 

Show off.

 

And he still had Harry's wand, god damn it!

 

Harry shrugged and said, "Sooo... I guess I should start from the beginning?"

 

"Now would be a good time." Voldemort retorted, leaning back as well. Harry blatant disregard for his question was not missed but he supposed he can find the answer in whatever Harry was going to say.

 

"Yes, oh great Dark Lord." Harry sarcastically replied, earning a glare from Voldemort. Harry cleared his throat before starting, "Once upon a time, there was a magical couple who had a baby boy-"

 

"Potter, you are testing my patience." Voldemort warned.

 

"If you want to know why we're in this situation right now, you would let me explain the way I want." Harry challenged, glaring at Voldemort. The older wizard hissed at him but remained silent. Harry grinned and continued, "Now, there was nothing special about the baby boy. He was just a normal magical child born from the love of a pure-blood wizard and a muggle-born witch. Then one day, the big bad Dark Lord came and he huffed and he puff-"

 

"Potter..."

 

Harry grinned at the annoyed tone of Voldemort's hiss and continued, "And the Dark Lord killed the boy's parents. The Dark Lord tried to kill the boy as well but, for some reason, failed and ended up as a spirit. Now, this normal magical boy was crowned as the destroyer of the Dark Lord which is a load of bull if you ask me."

 

Voldemort raised an eyebrow at Harry's words and Harry rolled his eyes and commented, "I'm not an idiot. You're the bloody Dark Lord. How can a one year old defeat you?"

 

Harry waved his hand in a dismissing manner as he added, "But that discussion is a can of worms we don't need to open right now."

 

Harry cleared his throat before continuing, "Now this normal magical boy was left in the hands of a crazy old goat who decided the best people to raise said magical child is a family of magic hating muggles."

  
Harry's eyes became unfocused, not noticing the slight stiffness of Voldemort's body caused by his previous words, and he stared at the dessert filled table as he continued, "This magical boy grew up believing his name was 'boy' and 'freak'. He grew up believing his parents were unemployed idiots who died due to drunk driving. He was treated as a house-elf by his relatives. He had no friends because his whale of a cousin scared anyone who dare try to befriend him. He could not trust any adults because his aunt and uncle spread rumors of him being a delinquent and a liar. His own relatives beat him physically and psychologically. He was all alone. Hated by his relatives for what he is and hated by other muggles for what he was rumored to be."

 

"Tell me, Tom." Harry's tone was cold and detached as he raised his eyes to stare at Voldemort, tilting his head which made him look so innocent, "How did you think the child grew up to be?"

 

"Hate." Voldemort replied, his throat seemingly dry all of a sudden, "Full of hate and anger."

 

Harry chuckled and shook his head. He leaned back and closed his eyes as he replied, "Perhaps, had circumstances been a bit different that could have been the boy's future. Full of anger and hate for everyone and everything... a tragic child pushed to the darkness due to the cruelty of man."

 

Voldemort glared at him and sneered, "Are you saying that even after all that pain, he stayed innocent and pure?"

 

Harry laughed. It was a cold amused laugh that didn't seemed appropriate with their topic. Harry opened his eyes and asked, "You mean how Dumbledore probably envisioned it?"

 

Voldemort glared at him, obviously offended at being compared to Dumbledore. Harry lowered his eyes once more and continued, "Perhaps... it's not that far fetched. After years of abuse and negligence, the boy would have been terribly and stupidly grateful to the wizard who... 'saved' him."

 

Harry smiled bitterly as he added, "Had he not been betrayed before..."

 

Harry sighed and began tracing the rim of his cup in a distracted manner as he continued, "When the boy was around seven years old, he met another boy in the comforts of his sanctuary, the public library. It was the only place his cousin and his other tormentors could not raise their hands or open their mouth. The other boy was from another school and they shared the same interest in reading. The boy was so, so happy. He had made a friend. He wasn't alone anymore."

 

Harry smiled softly as he continued, "It was such a beautiful time for the boy. The pain the entire world inflicted on him did not matter as long as he could spend even just an hour with his friend. His head was filled with the beautiful happy endings of the stories he read. He started to think 'maybe, just maybe, this is my happy ending'. Then one day..."

 

Harry's hand stopped and he continued, "His cousin found out about his friend and his cousin did what his relatives did best... he broke him."

 

Harry placed the coaster and cup on top of the tome on his lap as he continued, "He could still remember clearly how his friend denied being friends with him. His friend called the boy a 'liar' and 'stupid'. His cousin and all of the children who made it a sport to bully the boy laughed at him. They laughed and called him stupid for ever believing anyone could be his friend. And his friend..."

 

Harry smiled bitterly as he continued, "... laughed with them, called him names, pushed him around..."

 

Harry caressed the tome on his lap as the words continued to fall from his lips, "It had hurt. It had been the worst pain he had ever felt his entire life. It was the cruelest torture he had ever felt for it gave him hope and took it away. That's when the boy realized..."

 

Harry raised his eyes to stare at Voldemort and he said in a cold detached tone, "Everyone will betray you."

  
Harry lowered his eyes to stare at the table and grabbed his cup. He sipped before continuing, "Years passed and the boy grew up. He started noticing the 'freaky' things that happened around him. He started trying to control them because, if he didn't, he was punished. Of course, his control wasn't perfect. He would loose himself to anger at times."

 

Harry shrugged and said, "He was planning on controlling his 'freakishness' and master it enough to..."

 

Harry smirked as he added, "... cause an 'accident' on his relatives."

 

Voldemort raised an eyebrow at Harry's words but kept quiet, listening as Harry continued, "But a letter came... well... more like... hundreds of letters came."

 

Harry shrugged once more before continuing, "Anyway, stuff happened and the boy found out he wasn't a 'freak' but a wizard. He learned from a lovable oaf about his parentage, his-"

 

Harry spat his next word with disdain and annoyance, "-'fame'."

 

"The boy realized that he was being labeled once more. Instead of the role of the lying delinquent, he was now seen as a messiah, a savior." Harry smirked before he concluded, "So a messiah he played."

 

"It wasn't hard. The lovable oaf he was with answered all of his questions. He played the innocent shy boy, having perfected such a role when he was younger." Harry explained in a slightly distracted tone, "He was the savior. He was expected to be a symbol of the Light. He befriended the youngest son of an obvious Light family and a muggle born. He denied a friendship with an heir to a Dark family and argued against the hat's desire to put him in the den of snake."

 

"You were supposed to be in Slytherin?" Voldemort couldn't help but ask with a raised eyebrow.

 

Harry shrugged and replied in a bored tone, "Slytherin honors cunning and ambition above all else. Ambition isn't something I really have. The greatest ambition I had before I learned I was a wizard had been to get a scholarship to a boarding school far away from my 'lovely' relatives. While there, I had planned to find a suitable lover who had power and money to protect and take me away from my relatives. I suppose my plan to project the image the Wizarding world have over the boy-who-lived is cunning. Or maybe the hat wanted me in Slytherin because I'm a Parseltongue. Who knows."

 

Harry frowned and mumbled, "Now where was I again? Oh, right..."

 

Harry sighed tiredly and continued, "First year was easy. All he had to do was follow the Light child he had befriended, pick fights with snakes and have mediocre grades."

 

Harry smirked as he glanced at Voldemort before continuing, "Of course, like every good story, a conflict arose between the boy and the big bad Dark Lord who had possessed one of his professors."

 

Voldemort glared at him but Harry simply continued in the same disinterested tone, "The big bad Dark Lord offered him what he had wanted all his life: power."

 

Voldemort was surprised at those words. He stared at Harry with an unreadable expression as he added, "But the boy refused."

 

Harry smiled bitterly and concluded, "Because he knew the Dark Lord lied."

 

"Lord Voldemort does not lie." Voldemort hissed which only made Harry raise an eyebrow.

 

"Are you honestly telling me you would be willing to grant power to a boy you had tried to kill 10 years ago?" Harry asked with an amused smirk. Harry chuckled softly before adding playful, "And even if you did, I've read enough books to know not to make a deal with the devil."

 

Harry shrugged as he continued, "Plus I have trust issues. I wouldn't trust the old goat who left me to be 'cared' by muggles. You really think I would trust the big bad wolf who ate my parents?"

 

"Your reasoning has some merits." Voldemort admitted without even a hint of annoyance. He grabbed his cup and sipped his tea before replying, "I would have ordered you to kneel."

 

"I don't mind kneeling." Harry replied, smirking when he noticed how his words had frozen Voldemort. The older wizard raised his head to stare at him and Harry shrugged as he explained, "I have no desire to lead or anything grand. Right now, I just want to survive-"

 

"Then why didn't you join me?" Voldemort hissed in annoyance.

 

"You were an unknown factor. You still are." Harry explained, glaring at Voldemort, "I was an eleven years old boy who wanted to survive. I survived in the muggle world by obeying my relatives and gritting my teeth as I was worked to the bone. I learned to become apathetic to the pain they inflict on me both physically and psychologically. I survived by perfecting my shy quiet mask. When I was pushed into the Wizarding world, they had already labeled me. If I wanted to survive, I had to be the little puppet of the Light wizards. Unless you're so blinded by your enormous ego, you should know that the Dark side are not in the winning side at the moment. The Wizarding world labeled Dark as evil and Light as good. Dark families have power and wealth but the masses whisper behind their backs and they are distrusted. Slytherin is branded as a house of evil and bullies and the idiots in the house don't really help with their petty 'holier-than-thou' attitude. All of the other houses don't like them, not because of jealousy or fear but because of how spoiled and arrogant they appear, thinking they're better because they know and follow Wizarding traditions and they have isolated themselves further by their prejudice over muggles and muggle-borns. The Light side has more supporters and are more accepted. The majority of the Wizarding world are groveling for the acceptance of the muggle-borns and the muggle-borns adore the Light because the Dark thinks they are weaker and stupid. Add to that the fact that I'm still under the eyes of the Albus Dumbledore, the leader of the Light wizards."

 

"The Light wizards have laid their claims on me, surrounded by their disgusting light every single day." Harry spat, "You wanted to use me. I would have let you use me if it meant more freedom, if it meant more power, but you were powerless-"

 

"ENOUGH!" Voldemort ordered, rising from his sit. He aimed his wand towards Harry but the young wizard simply stared at him.

 

"I'm not a prodigy like you, Tom. I cannot master spells in one reading. I cannot perfect potions on my first try. I cannot charm everyone with a smile. I cannot talk everyone to doing my bidding." Harry gripped the fabric of his robes tightly as he continued, "I'm a good seeker because I am reckless and do not mind getting sent to the infirmary. I've had worse injuries and less than stellar care. Pain has become irrelevant to me since I was eight years old. I'm good at defense because I know every year, whether I want to or not, something is bound to happen and the only one who can protect me is myself. My best defense is my status as Albus Dumbledore's puppet. As long as I am seen as his, those loyal to him are lenient with me and protect me from those who hate him. Non-Slytherin students at best think I am some kind of saint and, at worst, ignores me and majority of the Wizarding world either adores me or sucks up to me."

Harry smiled wryly as he added, "Or... they used to anyway..."

 

Harry sighed and rubbed his forehead as he continued, "I have no choice. Being Dumbledore's puppet is the only way I can survive."

 

"Then you come along and offered me power." Harry closed his eyes and mused, "You, the feared Dark Lord reduced to being a parasite to a mediocre wizard. You offered power you could not grant but ordered such a high price in exchange."

 

Harry opened his eyes and stared at Voldemort with a blank expression, "Joining you meant betraying Dumbledore. Joining you meant destroying this suffocating cage built around me. If I had left with you, I would have been hunted, either seen as a traitor or a captive. If I had given you the stone and stayed here in Hogwarts, my loyalty would have been questioned. At best, Dumbledore would have kept me closer. At worst, they would have found out about my treason and punished me."

 

Harry smiled wryly and added, "Whatever outcome would have occurred, you would have seen me as a liability and discarded me."

 

Harry grabbed his coaster and placed his tea on the table as he continued, "And if you had abandoned me, I would be left alone with no protection nor guarantee of survival."

 

"So I chose to preserve the status quo." Harry concluded, leaning back to the comforts of his chair, "You brought too many unknown variables. I couldn't afford a risk. Not when I just started knowing this world."

 

"So you would stay as his puppet?" Voldemort sneered, glaring at Harry.

 

Harry shrugged and grabbed a cookie as he replied, "Until I have enough knowledge and power to survive on my own or unless you appear on the playing field with power."

 

Voldemort grabbed Harry's wrist and pulled him off his chair. He wrapped his free hand around Harry's neck and hissed, "And what makes you think I will welcome you to my side after you had rejected my offer before?"

 

"You're not an idiot, Tom." Harry whispered, staring at Voldemort's crimson eyes with the same blank expression that was starting to get on Voldemort's nerves, "I am more valuable to you alive than dead. My status as the savior of the Wizarding world will demoralize your opposition once they've learned I bowed down to you."

 

"Your death will have the same effect." Voldemort retorted.

 

"Dumbledore would have found a way to make my death a battle cry." Harry argued. He smiled bitterly as he commented, "Everyone loves a martyr, Tom. Kill me and I will become a rallying point for all those who oppose you."

  
Voldemort pulled him closer, bowing so that his face just a few inches away from Harry's, and threatened, "Then maybe I should just drag your precious name to the ground first? No one will cry for a disgraced hero."

 

Harry stared at Voldemort for a second before he burst out laughing. It was a hysterical laugh that reminded Voldemort of his lovely Bella. Voldemort's grip on his wrist loosened in surprise and Harry took a step back. He continued to laugh, covering his mouth as his entire body shook. After a few more uncontrollable giggle, Harry took a deep breath and stared at Voldemort, raising an eyebrow as he asked in an amused tone, "Where have you been staying? Don't you read the Daily Prophet?"

 

Harry broke the cookie he was holding into two as he explained, "They've already dragged my name to the mud. The boy-who-lived, a glory seeking selfish cheater who wants the entire world to sing him praises."

 

Harry took step towards Voldemort and placed one half of the cookie by Voldemort's lips as he continued, "The goblet made me the fourth champion for the Triwizard Tournament when I did not even put my name in the bloody cup."

 

Harry pushed the cookie to Voldemort's slightly opened mouth while he explained, "The whole school has turned against me. My mud-blood friend is disappointed at me over her truth that I cheated. My best mate is jealous and angry over his truth that I did not share how to put my name in the goblet and how I wanted all the fame and money all for myself. Everyone... my fellow lions, the so-called smart eagles, the so-called loyal badgers and the arrogant snakes have created their truth: Harry Potter is a glory seeking, arrogant, selfish, greedy liar."

 

Harry traced Voldemort's lower lip with his point finger lightly while he mused, "And a reporter ran with it. The entire Wizarding world is against me now."

 

Harry stopped and shrugged as he added, "Except my beloved fugitive godfather, I suppose."

 

Harry took a step back and ungracefully fall back to his chair. He bit a quarter of the remaining cookie in his hand and chewed. He stared at the table and gulped before continuing, "Maybe there are more people who still cared for their boy-who-lived but they're all content in keeping quiet."

 

Harry hid his smile by biting another quarter from his cookie when he noticed that Voldemort had chewed the cookie in his mouth. Voldemort returned to his sit and stared at Harry as he finished his cookie. Once Harry gulped, Voldemort said, "Wormtail never bought a copy of the Daily Prophet."

 

Harry's eyes narrowed at the mention of the rat animagus. He shrugged once more before commenting, "You're not really missing much. The newspaper sings praises over the other champions while insults me for being a cheat. That's about it."

 

Harry sighed before continuing, "Anyway, now that everyone has either turned against me or seen it a good idea to ignore me, I had too much time alone. Everywhere I went, people stare at me, whispers behind my back or confront me. This place... Salazar's chambers turned out to be the only place in this cage where I can be alone."

 

Harry raised his head to look at the ceiling before continuing, "I started exploring this place a few weeks ago. I began reading the books here about a week ago."

 

Harry lowered his head to look at Voldemort and grabbed the tome on his lap as he explained, "I've been reading this one two days ago. I read about the Slytherin binding ritual and thought 'screw it, might as well go out with a bang'."

 

"Go out with a bang?" Voldemort repeated with a raised eyebrow.

 

Harry shrugged once more before explaining, "Well, my golden boy image has already been destroyed. I figured I'd just do everything I can to survive. Having the ghost of Salazar Slytherin, one of the most powerful and knowledgeable wizard, bound to me would have helped."

 

Harry sighed and waved his hand towards Voldemort in a dismissive manner, "Unfortunately, I got you instead."

 

Harry returned the tome back on his lap and stared at Voldemort. They stared at one another in silence for a few seconds. Harry bit his bottom lip and looked at glanced at the table nervously. He leaned further against the comfortable couch and said, "That's about it... I guess."

 

"Are you acting right now?" Voldemort asked, staring at Harry with an unreadable expression.

 

Harry scoffed and retorted, "No. I really find your staring nerve-wreaking."

 

Voldemort raised an eyebrow as he commented, "You were fine staring at me when you were eleven."

 

Harry pouted as he reasoned, "Well, you looked like wrinkly old man plastered on my pathetic defense professor back then. Do you even realize how handsome you are?"

 

"You find this form attractive?" Voldemort asked in an amused tone.

 

Harry shrugged and replied, "I find a lot of people attractive. I find the Ravenclaw seeker attractive. Gryffindor's keeper is attractive too. I think Hermione could be pretty if she tried. I find Daphne Greengrass and Blaze Zabini attractive. Malfoy's attractive as long as he sits pretty and don't talk. My fellow champions are attractive... although I don't drool over the quarter-Veela champion. I find Victor Krum physically more appealing, actually."

 

Harry titled his head and added with a pout, "Then again, you kinda raised the bar on what I find attractive back in second year. It's obviously your fault I am more attracted to Dark wizards... and non-Malfoy Slytherin..."

 

"What do you mean?" Voldemort asked, crossing his left leg over his right.

 

Harry rolled his eyes and deadpanned, "I am not going to believe you if you say no one thought Tom Marvolo Riddle was handsome. Not to mention, your magic is quite appe-"

 

Harry's breath hitched when Voldemort grabbed him by the shoulder and pushed him against the chair. The tip of a wand was pressed against his chin and Voldemort leaned forward, his face inches away from Harry. Harry shivered when he felt Voldemort's warm breath against his face, "<<Where did you learn that name?>>"

 

Harry couldn't help but glare at the older man currently pining him to the chair and he hissed, "<<I've been calling you by your first name for a while now, Tom. You just realized I know your name?!>>"

 

"<<Answer my question!>>" Voldemort ordered, making Harry wince at the unnecessary loudness of his voice.

 

"-<<You told me!>>" Harry shouted back, "<<I met your sixteen years old diary self and you gloated about how you used your real name to make the anagram 'I am Lord Voldemort'!>>"

 

Voldemort stared at Harry in silence for a few seconds before he asked, "<<You had my diary?>>"

 

Harry frowned and asked back, "<<You didn't know?>>"

 

Voldemort backed away from Harry and returned to his sit. He glared at Harry and ordered, "<<Explain.>>"

 

Harry tried to get comfortable once more before warning, "Before you manhandle me again, I have to warn you. You're not going to like my explanation."

 

Voldemort glared at Harry and the younger wizard sighed before he started, "The cliff notes version is Lucius Malfoy put your diary among Ginny Weasley's books and the diary opened the Chambers once more."

 

Voldemort hissed angrily and Harry grinned as he asked, "Can I be there when you punish Lucius?"

 

"Why did Lucius give my diary to a Light child?!" Voldemort demanded as he stood.

 

Harry shrugged and replied, "Pretty sure Dumbledore explained it to me before but I don't really care."

 

"YOU DON'T CARE?!!" Voldemort shouted angrily, making Harry wince at the pain in his eardrums.

 

"Second year wasn't exactly as stress-free as my first year." Harry hissed, glaring at Voldemort, "I found out my ability to speak to snakes wasn't normal. Your diary possessed Ginny to open the Chambers and let the basilisk go hunting for mud-bloods. So everyone assumed the heir of Slytherin is me because I can talk to snakes!"

 

"You?! The heir of Slytherin?!" Voldemort sneered.

 

Harry scoffed and retorted, "I talk to snakes. That's all the evidence idiots need."

 

"And?" Voldemort pressed, staring at Harry, "Where is my diary now?"

 

Harry frowned and said, "I killed Tom by stabbing the diary with a Basilisk fang."

 

"You WHAT?!"

 

"Your diary jeopardized my safety! He sicced your Basilisk on me so I had to kill the damn snake!" Harry hissed back, standing as well, "They were going to shut down Hogwarts and my status as a Light wizard was being questioned!"

 

"You're not Light!" Voldemort retorted, grabbing Harry by the arm.

 

"I have to pretend I am!" Harry shouted back, glaring at Voldemort as he hissed lowly, "I was going to negotiate with him but Dumbledore's bloody bird came. I have no idea how intelligent a phoenix is but I could not risk it. Tom had to die. Keeping Dumbledore in the dark greatly outweigh my desire to keep Tom alive."

 

Harry took a deep breath and closed his eyes as he admitted, "I felt bad about killing Tom, I really do.”

 

Harry bitterly smiled and opened his eyes as he said, “Goading him by playing on his hatred for Dumbledore wasn't really my brightest idea.”

 

Harry sheepishly smiled as he continued, “I couldn't help myself. I wanted to see underneath that calm smug exterior.”

 

Harry scoffed and rolled his eyes as he mused, “How was I suppose to know he would sic his Basilisk on me?”

 

“You do have this annoying trait of getting people to want to kill you.” Voldemort deadpanned, making Harry chuckle lightly.

 

“I didn't have time to get him to listen to me after the Basilisk came. Then Fawkes threw that idea out of the window when he came.” Harry sighed tiredly and closed his eyes once more as he mused sadly, “It was first year all over again. Unlike you though, I had wanted to keep Tom alive. He could have been a fountain of information I needed to get away from this cage."

 

He opened his eyes and stared at Voldemort as he added, "And he would have been a valuable asset in making you less incline to kill me."

 

Voldemort chuckled lowly and grabbed Harry by the wrist. He pulled Harry and sneered, "You really think he would have helped you?"

 

"He would have realized helping me would benefit him." Harry hissed back, stepping towards Voldemort, "He already absorbed most of Ginny's magic or life force or whatever the hell it was he was absorbing. Whatever he needed to be corporal, it was stupid to absorb it from Ginny until she died. I was planning on trying to talk him out of it and using me for the remainder of whatever it was he needed to be corporal if possible. Ginny wouldn't die, Tom would have his own body and I would have kept my golden boy status for being able to 'save' the child of a Muggle-loving Light family and 'vanquishing' the heir of Slytherin while Tom hides in the many hidden rooms of the school."

 

Voldemort stared at Harry in silence and the young wizard smirked as he asked, "It's not a bad plan, right? You're considering it. How many galleons are you willing to bet your diary would have done the same thing?"

 

Voldemort glared at Harry and sneered, "But you still destroyed my diary."

 

Harry glared at Voldemort and hissed, "I had no choice."

 

Voldemort scoffed and pushed Harry away. Harry stumbled and fell back on his chair, glaring at Voldemort. The Dark Lord glared back at him as he sneered, "It always seems like you never have a choice, Harry Potter."

 

"That's the summary of my life." Harry commented with a roll of his eyes. Harry smiled sardonically as he added, "I also have the worst luck."

 

"I would have to agree. Binding yourself to me is one of the worst things you could have done." Voldemort hissed back, rubbing his temple as he felt a migraine coming up.

 

Harry shrugged and commented, "It could have been worse."

 

"Do you even know what this bind does?!" Voldemort hissed angrily as he recalled, "We cannot harm one another-"

 

Harry scoffed and commented, "That's a pro for me."

 

"This bind force us to stay as closely together as possible." Voldemort added, making Harry frown. Voldemort narrowed his eyes as he added, "The farthest we can be is at the end of two adjoining classrooms."

 

"What happens if we stay apart?" Harry asked, having a feeling he wouldn't like the answer.

 

"We would slowly lose our access to our magic until we become squibs." Voldemort angrily glared at Harry as he added, "The longer we stay apart, the higher the possibility that we become squibs permanently."

 

"I suppose you would say no to that?" Harry asked with a raised eyebrow.

 

"You would willingly become a squib?" Voldemort looked so disgusted at Harry that the young wizard couldn't help but snicker.

 

"You make it sound like I'm willing to get a disgusting disease or something." Harry commented with a grin. Voldemort glared at him which only made Harry's grin larger. Harry shrugged and asked, "Would it be so bad?"

 

Harry waved his hand in a dismissing manner as he explained, "Since I'm a wizard, people expect things from me. Dumbledore expect me to have the power to defeat you."

 

Voldemort hissed and Harry rolled his eyes as he added, "Yes, I agree with your silent protest. Honestly, I think all the sweets the old goat ate has destroyed all his sanity. Who in their right mind would think a mediocre teenage wizard can defeat the greatest Dark Lord in history?"

 

Noticing the look Voldemort was giving him, Harry deadpanned, "I am not kissing up to you. I needed to know more about you so I can know if I could ally myself with you so I read about you and previous Dark Lords. In my opinion, you're marginally more powerful than the rest."

 

"Marginally?" Voldemort hissed, glaring at Harry.

 

Harry raised an eyebrow and retorted, "I don't see the Wizarding world grovelling to you. Ask me again after you do become the supreme ruler."

 

"Anyway, wounded pride aside." Harry waved his hand in a dismissing manner once more before continuing, "I would be sad about not being able to use magic, sure, but I'll survive."

 

Harry stared at Voldemort with a blank expression as he explained, "Worst case scenario, I return to the muggle world-"

 

Voldemort hissed in disgust, making Harry roll his eyes before continuing, "And I return to my original plan before I found out I was a wizard."

 

"You would willing let all of these to" Voldemort waved his hand as if to indicate the entire room (or maybe the entire Wizarding world... Harry didn't really care), "go and live with the muggles who hate you?"

 

"Not every muggle hate me." Harry corrected calmly before shrugging, "Wizards and witches see me and they know I'm the-boy-who-just-won't-die. I can't go in any magical places without getting stared and whispered at. In the muggle world, I'm just another kid. My neighbors and anyone who had the pleasure of meeting my 'relatives' do hold negative feelings for me, I'm sure, but all I have to do is grit my teeth and plan how I can get out of my relatives fat hands and live in a place where no one knows me. From there, I suppose I can try and snag a muggle nice and rich enough to provide for me."

 

Voldemort raised an eyebrow and asked, "You'll sell yourself to a muggle?"

 

Harry rolled his eyes and retorted, "I'm an orphan who has no money nor connection. If I become a squib, would I still have access to my Potter account? Probably not. Squibs are seen as an embarrassment. I won't be surprised if squibs aren't allowed access to any vaults. I would be an embarrassment to the Wizarding world."

 

Voldemort shook his head and retorted, "Even if you do become a squib-"

 

Harry grinned at the amount of disgust Voldemort was able to put in a single word but listened quietly as the older wizard continued, "You are still their precious 'savior'. Dumbledore will still keep you under his greedy fingers."

 

Voldemort sat back on his own sit and explained, "A squib also still have a magical core and can have magical children. They'll probably keep you to breed the next heir of the Potter house."

 

"And then discard me." Harry added, earning a grim nod from Voldemort. Harry sighed and commented in a deadpan tone, "Well, there goes that idea."

 

Harry grinned and suggested, "Maybe I can get Sirius to go with me when I run away. He's already a fugitive, living with muggles will make him more incognito. He would still have access to his magic and the Black vaults. Perhaps he can write an authorization letter for me to handle the vaults for him as his assistant and we can live in one of the Black manors. I heard the Blacks are loaded."

 

Voldemort raised his eyebrow and asked, "You're going to use your godfather?"

 

"My godfather loves me unconditionally because I look like my father and he still feels guilty over prioritizing vengeance over me. Azkaban had destroyed his sanity and what is left is his desire to make me feel loved and to protect me." Harry reasoned and smirked as he added, "I can burn down Hogwarts and his first question would be if I was alright."

 

Seeing Voldemort's amused expression, Harry shrugged before explaining, "Don't get me wrong. I adore Sirius. If I had a different childhood, I supposed I could have loved him as a parent or a cool older brother. Unfortunately, the most I can give him is the feeling of adoration and a wish to keep him safe without jeopardizing my safety. The ministry would never pardon him and Dumbledore will only use him until he dies. I will use what he can give me to protect myself and him."

 

Harry hummed and commented, "Maybe I should go with that."

 

"Go with what?" Voldemort asked, staring at Harry with an unreadable expression.

 

"I could run away with Sirius. The Black family probably has a manor or something far away from Britain. If not, Sirius is still the Head of the Black family. If the goblin agrees to having me as Sirius' proxy, I can buy a cottage far away from both you and Dumbledore using funds from the Black vaults."

 

"Dumbledore will try and find you." Voldemort argued.

 

"Not if he's too busy fighting you." Harry retorted with a raised eyebrow, "This plan has some merit. Their savior running away would demoralize them and Dumbledore would have his hands full fighting you. Not to mention, the only other person close enough to Sirius to be a liability is Remus Lupin and he has a soft spot for both me and Sirius. We can probably get him to run away with us."

 

"And you think this Remus Lupin will just agree to drop everything for both of you?" Voldemort asked, playing Devil's Advocate...

 

Did he even realize he was playing Devil's Advocate?

 

A part of Harry is still wondering on how bizarre it was to be talking to the Dark Lord without the threat of pain and death...

 

"Remus is a werewolf. He has been shun by both the Dark and the Light. The Light shuns him because he is a Dark creature and the Dark shuns him because he sided with the Light." Harry shrugged as he added, "Plus, he also feels guilty over not taking care of me even though he knows he was never qualified to because of his status. The two of us are what is left of his pack. I'm his cub. Remus would prioritize us over Dumbledore."

 

Harry frowned as he remembered, "Of course, I can't put this plan in motion because of our bind."

 

Harry sighed and rubbed his forehead as he asked, "Speaking of which, you wouldn't happen to know how to unbind you from me, do you?"

 

Voldemort gritted his teeth and covered his eyes with one of his hands as he replied, "There is only one way to take the bind off."

 

Harry frowned and said in a deadpan tone, "If it involves me dying, no thank you."

 

"Worse." Voldemort replied, glaring at Harry.

 

"What's worse than dying?" Harry asked with a raised eyebrow.

 

"The only way to remove the bind is for the binder and the Slytherin to marry in the traditional magical way and to bear an heir."

 

…

 

.....

 

.........

 

.........

 

......

 

…

 

It was official.

 

Harry James Potter was Fate's personal chew toy.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Damn, this was long.
> 
> Don't get your hopes up to always having looonnnggg chapters.
> 
> Side note: So apparently Harry watches/read muggle media/literature. I will try and keep the other media references to be in the correct timeline... (aka: 1990s) but no promises.


	2. It's a 'when', not an 'if'

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Voldemort explains what a traditional magical marriage is and they reach an agreement... of sort...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> … Woah... 167 kudos for 1 chapter? Thank you, everyone!! <3
> 
> Thank you to Cardfreak for pointing out my embarrassing grammar mistakes ^///^
> 
> Warning for this chapter:  
> 1 unbeta'ed as usual  
> 2 I am making up all this magical marriage thingie unless there's really a thing like that in Harry Potter 'verse then this is total 'AU' magical marriage thing  
> 3 Harry really does not like the Malfoys (personally, I like the Malfoys...)  
> 4 Alternate characterizations for some Death Eaters  
> 5 Apparently... Harry and Voldemort likes dogs...

He had no idea how long he had been staring at the older wizard currently glaring at him.

 

It could have been hours.

 

It could actually just been a few seconds.

 

It felt like it's been years and he still could not wrap his mind around what Voldemort just told him.

 

Figured he'd pick the weirdest ritual on his first try.

 

"Weeeellllll..." Harry bit his bottom lip, tapping his forefinger over his knee. Harry sheepishly grinned as he finally said, "We're screwed, aren't we?"

 

Voldemort narrowed his eyes further and replied in a slightly hesitant tone, "We can... perform the marriage ritual..."

  
Harry frowned and said, "That part is fine-"

 

"Marrying me is fine?" Voldemort hissed angrily, making Harry roll his eyes.

 

"We've spent an hour not killing one another. I think we can make arrangement to make a... relationship-" Harry couldn't help but grin at the murderous glare Voldemort was making at that word, "... work. Since our bind will be removed, we can just be one of those married couple who is still married legally but live separately."

 

Harry sighed and rubbed his forehead as he added, "Not that it matters since the second part to remove the bind is impossible."

 

"To bear an heir?" Voldemort asked, raising an eyebrow. When he saw Harry nod, Voldemort asked another question that was half amused and half annoyed, "I suppose you didn't know wizards can bear a child then?"

 

Harry's jaw slacked for a few seconds before he managed to let out a high pitched word that sounded like "What?"

 

"Wizards and squibs are capable of bearing a child as long as their magical cores are compatible and strong enough to provide for both the man and his unborn child. We do have compatible magical cores. If we didn't, this ritual wouldn't had worked." Voldemort sounded like he was explaining a normal thing to a student, not traumatizing the boy he had been trying to kill for years, "Of course, conception is only possible if the two men in question are bound to one another through traditional magical marriage, not that commonly practiced muggle marriage."

 

Harry rubbed his forehead and closed his eyes as he mumbled, "I am so going to regret asking this..."

 

Harry opened his eyes and gritted his teeth as he asked, "How is... the traditional magical marriage different from normal marriage?"

 

"It's a marriage blessed by Magic herself." Voldemort sounded like he had recited a passage from a textbook (Harry just had a Hermione flashback on that thought) and gritted his teeth as well as he explained, "If... we take our situation as an example, our... marriage would merge all our financial and magical properties."

 

"What does that mean?" Harry understood financial properties. Magical properties was a bit too vague though. If this was just another Wizarding culture no one bothered to explain to him, he might just write a not so flattering letter to the board of directors to include 'Wizarding Cultures and Traditions for Dummies' in the Hogwarts curriculum. Hopefully writing it anonymously and putting lots of insults and complaints over Dumbledore would make Lucius (the chairman of Hogwarts Board of Governors) to actually put said subject.

 

"All my properties and vaults as Head of the Slytherin line, Head of the Gaunt house and other properties and vaults in the name of Tom Marvolo Riddle, Lord Voldemort and any aliases I had used will now be accessible to you. Including any properties and account I may have inherited as the last Riddle in the muggle world. The same can be said to all properties and vaults you may have in your name." Voldemort gritted his teeth harder as he continued, "Other than your title as Heir of the Potter house, you will also be known as Head Consort of the Slytherin line and Gaunt house. I will be known as Heir Consort to the Potter house until you become Head which will be where my title will change to Head Consort. This holds true to any other houses you hold. As you are not yet an adult, I will also be titled as Head Regent to all of the houses you are an heir to and does not have a Head. This means I am also authorized to use your votes in Wizengamot. Your paperwork and records in the muggle world will change so that you could be legally accepted as a Riddle."

 

Voldemort sighed and mused with a frown, "The paper will probably make you either my illegitimate son who I have accepted or perhaps my grandson considering my real age."

 

Harry commented with an amused smirk, "That means in the muggle world, you would be considered an incestual pedophile."

 

Voldemort glared at him and warned, "Do not test my patience, Potter. I still haven't finish explaining the consequences of your stupidity."

 

"By all means, dear future husband of mine." Harry mockingly bowed before pleading in an overly sweet voice, "Please do continue."

 

"A magical marriage is a bond that can never be severed by any governing law, spell or ritual. Both parties will be treated as equal. All properties shared. Including magical cores..." Voldemort spatted with disdain.

 

Harry's eyes widened and asked, "Wait. What?"

 

Voldemort glared at him as he continued, "Magical cores are a kind of magical property. When..."

 

And it was 'when', not 'if', because, even if Harry didn't mind being squib, there was no way in hell Voldemort would willing become squib.

 

"... we finish our marriage ritual, either of us can access both magical cores. Whoever access the other's magical core would temporarily be stronger-"

 

"That sounds like a pro for you." Harry commented with a raised eyebrow.

 

"-while the other would become weaker." Voldemort continued, not paying attention to Harry's words, "During pregnancy, the non-bearing partner's magical core will automatically send magic to the bearing partner to aid in the development of the unborn child. Without support, miscarriage is almost certain and, in the off-chance that the child is born, the bearing partner would have already exhausted their magical core, guaranteeing death. Children born from a magical marriage are commonly more powerful than a normal wizard or witch due to the support of both their parents' magical core during development."

 

"Wait." Harry frowned as he asked, "All I'm hearing are the good points of this magical marriage. What's the down side?"

 

"If one of us died, the other will follow soon after." Voldemort replied, glaring at the table as he added hesitantly, "But that... will not apply to us."

 

Harry raised an eyebrow and asked, "You know a loophole?"

 

"I had... performed a ritual that anchors my soul to this world." Voldemort looked like he was in pain just by telling this to Harry.

 

"Are you telling me that you are an immortal... spiritually?" Harry asked in an amused tone.

 

Figures big bad Dark Lord would find a way to become immortal.

 

For some reason, Harry is reminded of muggle movies where the bad guy just won't die so there will be an excuse for a sequel.

 

"Yes." Voldemort hissed, glaring at Harry as he continued, "And when we marry, my fail-safe will be considered as a magical property..."

 

"... which will also shared to me." Harry ended with wide eyes. Harry stared at Voldemort for a moment before commenting, "Wow. I mean... that means we're going to be married... forever..."

 

Voldemort growled, obviously not liking that idea. Harry patted his lap in the rhythm of a muggle nursery rhyme he remembered as he continued, "An heir would be moot as well considering you... I guess also me by extension... will forever be the head of all of your houses."

 

"Our child can be an heir to the Gaunt house and any other houses you do not hold any sentimental value over." Harry hummed thoughtfully at Voldemort's suggestion but kept quiet. Voldemort took this time to continue, "Magical oaths are also considered magical properties. My... followers are magically bound to answer to you as well."

 

Harry grinned mischievously as he asked, "Does that mean I can make Lucius suffer?"

 

Voldemort raised an eyebrow as he asked back, "What has he done to you?"

 

"He raised an annoying selfish prat who makes it his life long goal to annoy me to the point of having an Unforgivable at the tip of my tongue." Harry replied in an annoyed clipped tone.

 

"Which one?" Voldemort asked in an amused tone.

 

"All of them." Harry shrugged as he added, "Mostly the Imperius curse since I could order Malfoy to do something embarrassing without risking my cover too much."

 

Voldemort waved his hand in a dismissing manner as he said, "When we are married, you can do as you like with my Death Eaters as long as there is no permanent damage."

 

Harry raised an eyebrow as he asked, "So... we're getting married?"

 

"I will not become a squib." Voldemort hissed, glaring at him, "And not removing this bind is not an option. At least when we are married, having to be in the same room is optional."

 

"And our child?" Harry asked with a solemn expression.

 

Voldemort stared at Harry silently, observing the expressionless mask he had put when he asked that question. Voldemort was no fool. He had an idea what Harry was thinking. They did have similar background.

 

"Dark families consider children as a blessing. While many Dark families may not like you as the boy-who-lived, you are still the scion of the Potter house, an ancient and noble family. Scion to a blood-traitor or not, our child will be treated with kindness by the Dark families for that fact alone. Our child will be protected because I am the Dark Lord, leader of the Dark side." Voldemort crossed his left leg over his right before continuing, "The Light side will probably be a different story. Magical marriage is frowned upon by the Light side due to the negative reactions of the muggle-borns. They will also frown upon the fact that our child came from two fathers, another annoying reactions of muggle-borns due to their unfamiliarity of Wizarding culture and the hammering of their muggle way of thinking."

 

Voldemort entwined his fingers and placed them on top of his left knee before continuing, "Regardless of their reaction, our side-"

 

Harry raised an eyebrow at the word 'our' but kept quiet.

 

"-will protect and adore our child. My lovely Bella, while insane, will definitely love our child to death."

 

"Bella? As in Bellatrix Lestrange? Crazy witch who killed and tortured hundreds of people?" Harry couldn't help but ask for confirmation. There was no malice in his voice though. His tone connotes amusement and interest.

 

While Harry had heard how Bellatrix Lestrange, along with others, had tortured Neville Longbottom's parents to insanity, Harry held no hatred for any of them. It seemed rather useless to feel such intense emotion for two people he never met and he certainly did not held any special emotions for Neville to warrant a more personal inclination over the fate of his parents. Neville was one of the more tolerable students Harry knew and, had Harry met him first instead of Ron, Neville would have made a better candidate for the whole 'friends with a Light child' aspect of his Boy-Who-Lived mask. The meek boy was certainly more relaxing to be around than the energetic ginger. Unfortunately, Ron was an easily jealous boy and had made sure everyone knew he was Harry's best mate.

 

… not that it stopped him from showing his contempt over Harry's current predicament.

 

Overall, Neville's presence in Harry's life was too irrelevant for Harry to develop any adoration for the boy. Not to mention, being bound to Voldemort now meant that Neville Longbottom, heir to the Light family of the Longbottoms, would become an enemy by association. The Longbottoms were just as bad as the Weasleys when it comes to their devotion towards Dumbledore.

 

It was a shame though. Neville's knowledge of magical plants would have been a nice source of information if Harry wanted to grow his own garden (one of the things he had come to like while living with the Dursleys).

 

"Most of my Death Eaters kill and torture in my name. It's unavoidable in war." Voldemort said in a nonchalant manner, pushing Harry's internal musing to a halt, before explaining, "Bella adores children though. She could not have her own so she... compensate by spoiling the children of the other Death Eaters."

 

Voldemort rolled his eyes as he added, "Of course, most of them are afraid of her because she is insane."

 

Voldemort kept quiet for a moment, gathering his thoughts before continuing, "The Lestranges share Bella's adoration for children as well. One of my loyal followers, Barty, also share an adoration of children. Of course, Barty only adores mannered children and do not have patience for spoiled brats which may help ensure our child will not become spoiled. Bella's sister, Narcissa Malfoy, is also-"

 

"No." Harry immediately cut him off.

 

Voldemort raised an eyebrow and Harry wrinkled his nose as he said, "I will not have our child be influenced by Malfoys."

 

"Narcissa is a Black." Voldemort argued with a small amused smile on his lips. If Lucius heard how disliked their family name was by their Lord's future consort, the poor man will have a heart attack. Voldemort chuckled softly at the image of the Malfoy head's expression when he hear this before commenting, "You adore your Black. I think you will adore Narcissa and Bella as well once you meet them."

 

"I think you think I will adore your dear Bella because you adore her." Harry argued, placing his hands on his lap.

 

"You already adore an insane Black. You will find it easy to adore Bella once she starts spoiling our child and the Lestranges are one of my most loyal followers which means they will also be one of your most loyal... pets." Harry raised an eyebrow at the word. Voldemort leaned back and commented, "I know your type, Harry Potter. You use the term 'adore' to talk about your feelings for your godfather. You adore him because he is loyal like how an owner adores their dog."

 

"Think of my Lestranges and my Barty as my... most loyal and adorable dogs." Voldemort suggested before shrugging as he added, "Perhaps you can also think of the rest of my Inner Circle as my favored dogs."

 

"And Narcissa Malfoy?" Harry asked warily, making Voldemort more amused over the fact that Harry had accepted his... metaphor.

 

"She came from the same breed your godfather and my Bella came." Voldemort replied with a shrug.

 

Harry sighed and compromised, "Fine. I shall reserve judgment over the female Malfoy until I meet her."

 

Harry's frown curved to an amused smile as he teased, "What would your followers say when they hear you describe them as dogs?"

 

"They will all proclaim themselves as my most loyal attack dog or something equally trivial." Voldemort mused in a nonchalant manner, making Harry chuckle.

 

Harry hummed softly before he said in an amused tone, "You're a pretty nice conversation partner when you're not trying to kill me."

 

"I can no longer kill you." Voldemort admitted, sighing in resignation as he explained, "This bind keeps me from harming you. Any harms that will befall you during this bind will have repercussions towards me. The only action I have left is to marry you. And once I am married to you, your safety will be a natural concern to me."

 

"So you've been buttering me up?" Harry asked with an amused tone.

 

"Hardly." Voldemort scoffed, "Lord Voldemort does not lie. Everything I have told you is the truth. Now that I am certain you are no blind Gryffindor, you are more useful to me alive than dead."

 

Voldemort noticed Harry's grin but did not pay it any mind as he continued, "And marrying you will make the prophecy no longer a threat."

 

"There's a prophecy?!" Harry exclaimed in surprise before groaning and commenting in a resigned tone, "Of course there's a bloody prophecy. My life is a storm of cliche plot devices. What next? You and I are actually related and this turn into some kind of twisted Abel and Cain tragedy?"

 

Voldemort scoffed and said, "That's too much of a leap."

 

"You don't know. It sounds like something that would happen to me." Harry grumbled before smirking as he mused, "We do look alike, you know? Black hair, can talk to snakes, wants the world to burn..."

 

Harry raised an eyebrow as he asked playfully, "You didn't screw my mother, did you?"

 

Voldemort glared at him and sneered, "I have no interest in physical pleasure, Potter."

 

Harry chuckled at Voldemort's reaction before asking, "So? What's the prophecy?"

 

"I only know the first two lines of the prophecy and it was the reason why I tried to kill you." Voldemort admitted before concluding, "And the prophecy no longer matters if you are on the same side as me."

 

Harry frowned and asked, "What did the two lines say?"

 

"The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches... Born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies... " Voldemort recited from memory, making Harry frown deeper.

 

"You killed my parents and pushed me to becoming Dumbledore's puppet because of those two lines?" Harry asked bitterly.

 

"I will not apologize for your parent's demise." Voldemort said bluntly, "Your father was a talented Auror and your mother was a decent and stubborn witch. They were a threat to me either way. They were one of the most powerful and most loyal to Dumbledore. I would have killed you even if there was no prophecy once I killed your parents. A child born from such a competent magical couple will definitely be a threat especially if the child is consumed by vengeance."

 

Harry scoffed and commented, "I don't remember my parents and I am not stupid enough to desire something as time consuming as vengeance."

 

Voldemort gave an amused smirk as he commented, "You do value survival most."

 

Harry nodded and continued, "If I wanted to exact vengeance, the better target is Dumbledore. He's the one who sentenced me to the hell he calls 'family'."

 

Harry shrugged as he added, "Or Wormtail. He's the one who betrayed my parents. But, then again, my hatred for Wormtail might simply be because of my adoration for my godfather."

 

Voldemort stared at him with a look that seems to say 'I have no idea how to answer that so I'm just going to ignore it' before he said, "Putting that aside, do you now understand that this is the best course of action we can take right now?"

 

Harry stared at Voldemort silently for a moment before saying seriously, "I would like to make a few demands."

 

Voldemort glared at him but Harry cut whatever he might say by reminding him, "Remember, Tom, you can't harm me and I have no qualms being a squib."

 

"I will not blindly accept all your demands." Voldemort hissed angrily and Harry nodded.

 

"I am willing to compromise." Harry added with a shrug, leaning back.

 

Voldemort sighed and leaned back as well before he said, "I'm listening."

 

"I'm going to take your name when we marry." Harry started, earning a raised eyebrow from Voldemort. Harry shrugged and clarified, "And I mean 'Riddle', not 'Slytherin'."

 

"A muggle last name." Voldemort hissed, glaring at Harry.

 

"I have no real love for my last name. I would rather have your last name for personally reasons." Harry retorted with a disinterested tone and explained, "The Potter family was firmly in Dumbledore's side and 'Harry James Potter' is Dumbledore's pet."

 

"And 'Harry James Riddle'?" Voldemort countered, making Harry grin.

 

"Just imagine Dumbledore's reaction when I proclaim that's my name." Harry suggested, making Voldemort chuckle.

 

"How about 'Harry James Gaunt' instead? The Gaunt is one of the oldest Dark families and my mother's last name." Voldemort suggested.

 

"'Harry James Riddle-Gaunt'." Harry countered, making Voldemort frowned at Harry's stubbornness.

 

"Very well. Riddle-Gaunt, it is." Voldemort compromised before admitting with an annoyed frown, "I do not understand your fixation on my muggle last name."

 

Harry shrugged and replied, "There's no real reason, really. I think it'll be amusing to watch everyone's reaction to that name. Not many people know you're Tom Marvolo Riddle. The chances of anyone knowing you were a Gaunt is slimmer."

 

"It seems you have a sadistic idea of fun." Voldemort commented.

 

Harry grinned and said, "Get used to it, my dear future husband. I want our child to have 'Riddle' as their last name as well."

 

Voldemort growled and sneered, "Rejected. Our child will not have a muggle last name."

 

Harry glared at him but compromised, "Riddle-Gaunt then and they have the choice to change their last name to Slytherin if they wish to once they finish schooling."

 

Voldemort gritted his teeth and added, "And they will be the heir to the Potter house and Gaunt house as well as any other house you have in your name."

 

Harry shrugged and replied, "Sure. I don't have any sentimental feelings for any of the houses in my name anyway."

 

Voldemort nodded and concluded, "After our child comes of age, the only house we will have in our name is the Slytherin house."

 

"Agreed." Harry grinned as he demanded, "I want Sirius and Remus as our child's godfathers."

 

Voldemort glared at him and retorted, "A child can only have one godfather and one godmother.”

 

Harry raised an eyebrow and drawled, “You're the Dark Lord, most feared wizard in all of Britain. Pretty sure you're allowed to bend the rules on that one.”

 

“If I agree to this...” Voldemort smirked as he added, “Bella and her husband are also our child's godparents as well as-"

 

"Don't bother saying Malfoy." Harry cut off which only amused Voldemort.

 

He was definitely going to have fun rubbing his consort's displeasure over the Malfoys to Lucius once he gets the time.

"Rabastian Lestrange, Bella's brother-in law, and Barty Crouch Junior."

 

"Crouch?" Harry blinked as he asked, "That old man had a son?"

 

Voldemort nodded and said in a dismissing manner, "I will explain that one later. We should finish your demands first."

 

"Fair enough." Harry nodded and frowned as he said, "Wait a minute, I get two godfathers and you get four godparents.”

 

Voldemort raised an eyebrow as he compromised, “If you can name two more people you would like as godparents, be my guest.”

 

Harry pouted, obviously unable to name other people. Voldemort smirked but compromised, “Bellatrix and Rodolphus Lestrange with Sirius Black and Remus Lupin.”

 

Harry grinned and concluded, “So Sirius and Remus will be our child's godparents together with your Lestrange couple."

 

Voldemort nodded and Harry continued, "Sirius Black and Remus Lupin are not to be harmed."

 

"Only if they do not stand against me." Voldemort retorted before adding, "And they will only become our child's godfathers only if they make an oath to not stand against me."

 

"As long as they take an oath to not stand against you, not an oath to follow you." Harry added, frowning slightly.

 

"Very well. I accept." Voldemort nodded.

 

"You'll allow me to ask you to spare certain people at any given time." Harry demanded, making Voldemort narrow his eyes.

 

"As long as they stay neutral or it will not jeopardize my goal." Voldemort added with a warning hiss.

 

Harry nodded and agreed, "Fair enough."

 

Harry tapped his lap as he demanded, "You will offer Peter Pettigrew to my godfather."

 

"Once my Death Eaters are organized once more and I have no need for that useless servant, Wormtail is yours to play, torture or kill." Voldemort proclaimed before asking in annoyance, "How many more demands do you have?"

 

Harry grinned as he replied, "A lot. I'm trying to milk this situation as much as possible."

 

"Greedy little brat." Voldemort said with amusement before commenting, "I can see why the Hat wanted you in Slytherin."

 

Harry shrugged before continuing, "I get to use your Death Eaters when I want to."

 

"Only if you ask permission before using any of them." Voldemort took a moment to think before adding, "I will also place a Death Eater as your guard."

 

"As long as I get to pick who." Harry retorted, making Voldemort frown.

 

"Only if I approve of your choice." Voldemort added as well.

 

"Fair enough." Harry nodded and continued, "You'll take me out of this place."

 

"That's already a given. Once this bind is broken, it would mean you would be pregnant with our child. Staying in Hogwarts will be too dangerous for both you and our child." Voldemort agreed.

 

"Then that means we're going to get married soon?" Harry asked, frowning slightly.

 

"The best time to marry is either during the night of Samhain or Yule. Both nights are said to be blessed by Magic. Our marriage bond will become strongest at those nights. The stronger our bond is, the safer your pregnancy will be." Voldemort explained before frowning, "Yule will be our safest bet since you can get out of Hogwarts then."

 

Harry nodded and demanded, "Then you'll help me with this stupid tournament till you can whisk me away."

 

Voldemort raised an eyebrow as he asked, "Do you not wish to finish this tournament with your own power?"

 

Harry scoffed and replied, "I want to survive. If that means groveling for your help then I will."

 

"Do you have any pride?" Voldemort hissed in annoyance.

 

Harry grinned and retorted, "I have no use for pride. Survival is my first and foremost concern."

 

Seeing that Voldemort's glare continue to be borderline murderous, Harry sighed and compromised, "I'll make room for pride once I'm married to you and away from this cage."

 

"Your priority will be the safety of our child." Voldemort ordered with a hiss.

 

Harry glared at him and hissed, "Do you think I would prioritize my safety over our child's?"

 

"I don't know, Potter." Voldemort sneered, "The way I see it, you would be willing to sacrifice everything for your own survival."

 

"How are you so different?" Harry retorted angrily, "You would sacrifice everything for your ambition."

 

"NOT OUR CHILD!" Voldemort shouted, standing from his sit.

 

"NEITHER WOULD I!!" Harry shouted back, standing as well.

  
They stared at one another, fuming silently. After a few second, Harry slumped back on his chair and rubbed his forehead. Harry closed his eyes and admitted, "I will not abandon our child. I'm not..."

 

Harry sighed sadly and opened his eyes. He stared at Voldemort as he said, "I will not make the same mistake as the people who deserted me."

 

Voldemort stared at Harry for a few seconds before nodding. He sat back to his chair and said quietly, "I will not make the same mistakes as my parents. I will protect both you and our child."

 

Harry stared at Voldemort silently, remembering Tom Riddle's words to him during his second year, how similar they were. Harry never felt betrayed by his parents. The only way to feel betrayed by someone is to trust them in the first place. He had no recollection about his parents, harbored no feelings, good or bad, for the late Potters and do not even wonder if they would be happy or disappointed at how he had become.

 

He had wondered how it would be like to have lived with them.

 

Especially during his first year in Hogwarts and everything was still new. He still had some kind of naive thinking that perhaps the Wizarding world would be different. Maybe he would enjoy being everyone's desired savior.

 

The mirror of Erised had shown that naivety.

 

But then he realized everything was still the same. People were still the same. The only thing different is how they perceived Harry.

 

He had simply exchanged a rusty cage with a sturdier golden cage.

 

And now here he was, sitting in front of the wizard who had wanted to kill him his entire life.

 

Voldemort was showing a weakness to him.

 

A hint of humanity that they both knew they shouldn't show to other people.

 

Voldemort knew because he was the Dark Lord. Emotions would get in the way.

 

Harry knew because he was wearing a mask. Showing his real emotions would simply destroy the illusion he needed to stay alive in this cage.

 

So why was Voldemort showing him a hint of his humanity?

 

Was it a trap?

 

A way to get him to trust Voldemort?

 

Harry inwardly scoffed.

 

He didn't need to trust Voldemort.

 

The marriage bond would keep him safe from Voldemort and will force the Dark Lord to protect him.

 

The obstacle left was the Light side and Voldemort would take care of that as well. Before his demise, the Dark side had been on the winning side. Dumbledore couldn't defeat Voldemort before. After the marriage bond, Voldemort would have access to Harry's magical core. If he needed a boost of magic to overpower Dumbledore, Harry's magical core could provide it.

 

While Harry was unsure on how big his core was, he assumed it would have to be big considering how fast he healed during his time with the Dursleys and in school, surprising even Madam Pomprey. Voldemort can borrow all of his magical core if it takes Dumbledore out of the picture. If it takes everyone who wants to chain Harry out of the picture.

 

"I will love our child." Harry announced solemnly. Voldemort simply stared at him and Harry wondered if he thought the younger wizard was waiting for a reply of some sort.

 

Harry stared at Voldemort as he continued, not waiting for Voldemort to open his mouth, "We are not required to love one another nor do we need to have physical contact after the conception of our child. Physical contact is only allowed if both of us are okay with it."

 

"I will be allowed to show dominance and possession over you to my followers and in public." Voldemort countered, making Harry shrug.

 

"As long as you do not humiliate me or force me, I don't mind." Harry replied. He stared at Voldemort silently for a moment before continuing, "You do not have to love our child but you will care for our child. You will make time for our child at least once a week."

 

Voldemort scoffed and retorted with a glare, "I will be the one to teach him how to be a proper heir of Slytherin."

 

Harry inwardly rolled his eyes at that.

 

Of course he would...

 

"And you will attend meals with us as much as possible." Harry added, making Voldemort raise an eyebrow. Harry narrowed his eyes as he explained, "Neither of us had a normal childhood. Our child will not have a normal childhood but, at the very least, we can make it as normal as possible."

 

Voldemort observed Harry silently for a few seconds, taking note on the seriousness in those vivid green eyes. Voldemort nodded and added, "We will celebrate Yule and our child's birthdays together."

 

Harry nodded solemnly before demanding, "If you take any lovers, you keep your affair hidden from everyone, especially our child."

 

"I have no need for such thing." Voldemort hissed, seemingly offended by Harry's words. Voldemort glared at him and said, "And I demand the same to you."

 

Harry chuckled and shook his head as he said, "I don't like people in general. I don't think I can stand anyone long enough to call them my lover."

 

"Yet we must marry one another." Voldemort mused, finding amusement in the irony that two people who do not crave human affection would be forced to marry each other.

 

Harry shrugged and said, "Our marriage only needs to be amicable at least. While our bond stops us from harming and killing one another, I demand that we talk over all our differences. Both of us are allowed to leave if we feel that the other is too emotional to have a serious conversation but we will talk about our differences once we are both calm enough to think things over. You will take my suggestions and pleas concerning to your cause to consideration."

 

Voldemort opened his mouth but Harry beat him to it, "You are allowed to reject my suggestions or pleas as long as you give me a valid reason why."

 

"You're very accommodating..." Voldemort commented, frowning slightly.

 

Harry shrugged once more and replied in a slightly bored tone, "This is your war. My pleas will most likely be to not kill someone who I might have use for."

 

Harry smiled grimly as he continued, "The people in this world are too fickle for me to adore them enough to ask mercy for sentimental reasons."

 

Voldemort stared at Harry for a moment, taking in the detached way he held himself over the Wizarding world. Voldemort tapped his forefinger against the back of his hand as he mused, "You do not hold any sentimental or emotional connections to this world nor to the muggle world. Your plea of protection over your godfather and your werewolf are simply because the two are loyal to you, making you adore them like pets. You are willing to compromise on a lot of things. Most of your demands are based on your safety or what if scenarios covering your basis. Tell me, Harry Potter... is there anything you want in this world?"

 

"Not really." Harry shrugged and explained, "Right now, I just want to survive."

 

Harry smiled lightly as he added, "Perhaps when our child arrives, things will be different."

 

Voldemort hummed before saying, "Perhaps."

 

"After you get me out of here, you will personally train me or find someone who can tutor me." Harry demanded, raising an eyebrow when Voldemort smirked.

 

"You will have Death Eaters tutor you once you are out of Hogwarts. I will think about who would be in charge of what subjects. You will be tutored over all the subjects here in Hogwarts as well as the Dark Arts, Wizarding Traditions and Pure-blood Etiquette."

 

"Pure-blood Etiquette?" Harry repeated in an amused tone.

 

"You will be my consort, the consort to the Dark Lord and future ruler of Magical Britain." Voldemort reminded him, "As my consort, you will be required to meet politicians, leaders and other powerful people. I will not have you embarrassed me because of your lack of manners."

 

Harry chuckled softly and said, "Of course. Every Dark Lord needs a pretty trophy to parade all over the magical world."

 

Voldemort glared at him and hissed, "I do not need a trophy. I need a consort who can stand by my side and hold their own."

 

Harry looked surprised at that declaration. Voldemort stood and walked towards Harry. He grabbed Harry by the chin and forced to boy to stare at him as he warned, "I will protect you and I will take your future demands in consideration but I will not allow you to fade in the background. You will stand beside me and you will be able to take care of yourself and our child when I am not with you."

 

"Why?" Harry asked, confused to why Voldemort would ask him of such thing.

 

He had expected Voldemort to keep him hidden, away from everyone.

 

He was a liability once the marriage bond was complete.

 

"A marriage bond proclaims to the entire world that we are equal." Voldemort explained, "You will become a powerful wizard, only second to me. Do you understand?"

 

"That's a contradiction, you know." Harry was unable to stop myself, grinning cheekily as he teased, "We are equals but I am only second to you? You have to pick one. Am I supposed to be below you or next to you?"

 

Voldemort glared at him silently for a moment before retorting in an annoyed tone, "Perhaps you will find a field where you would excel more than me."

 

"Somehow, I highly doubt that." Harry chuckled lightly before saying, "Fine. I'll humor you. I will try as much as I can to be your equal."

 

Seeing Voldemort nod and back away from him, Harry grinned as he said, "This is the part where you say 'there is no try, only do'."

 

Voldemort frowned at him in a slightly confused way, making Harry chuckle and shake his head before saying, "Never mind. No one ever gets my references anyway."

 

Harry sighed and stared at the table. He frowned for a moment before saying, "Huh. I guess that's all the demands I have."

 

Voldemort nodded and said, "I will write all your demands and sign it. You will sign it as well and it will be our..."

 

Voldemort frowned as he continued, "Engagement... contract..."

 

Harry snickered at Voldemort's displeasure. He grinned and grabbed a plate of treacle tart as he said, "Then I guess we should have dinner first before going back to the realm of humans."

 

Voldemort glared at him as he asked, "Sweets? Your dinner is sweets?"

 

Harry shrugged as he stabbed a fork to one of the tarts, "Yup. I don't really want to eat in the Halls while everyone is whispering about me or glaring at me or... well, you get the idea. Professor McGonagall found out I've been eating in the kitchens so she banned the house-elves from giving me food in the kitchen."

 

"And that house-elf?" Voldemort asked, seemingly disgusted at how Harry was eating his tart.

 

No grace and simply pigging out.

 

Harry did learn from the best.

 

Although Harry was still debating if the best was Walrus Dursley or Walrus Dursley Junior or Ron.

 

"The ban was for food in the kitchen. Dobby realized it didn't mean he couldn't provide me food in a place other than the kitchen." Harry gulped before continuing, "I've been eating breakfast in bed, lunch in one of the many abandoned hallways or corners of the castle and dinner here."

 

Voldemort stared at him for a moment before grabbing the plate of treacle from his hands. Harry glared at him and let out an indignant "Hey!"

 

Not paying attention to him, Voldemort called out, "Dobby!"

 

Harry heard a pop right next to him but continued to glare at Voldemort, his fork raised as if he was contemplating on stabbing the man in the eye with it. Dobby glanced at Harry then at Voldemort before he asked worriedly, "Harry Potter's guest called Dobby?"

 

"Are you bound to Hogwarts?" Voldemort asked, glaring at Harry as a silent warning, seemingly knowing what Harry was thinking of doing.

 

It only made the idea of stabbing his eye with the fork sound more tempting.

 

"No, sir. Dobby is a free elf. All thanks to the great Harry Potter." Dobby replied in an overly joyous tone that grated on both Harry's and Voldemort's ears.

 

"Then would you like to be bound to Harry?" Voldemort asked with a malicious smirk.

 

"What?! Wait-"

 

"Do be quiet, my dear fiance. I'm still talking to Dobby." Voldemort cut off whatever Harry was going to say with an overly sweet tone that made Harry want to vomit... preferably on the older man's bare feet.

 

Dobby's already wide eyes seemed to widen (which Harry didn't know was even possible) and he asked, "You's be Harry Potter's husband?"

 

"Soon. Our engagement will be official by the end of this week if all goes according to plan." Voldemort replied before asking, "Would you like to be our house elf, Dobby? We have no house elves at the moment and it would be... quite helpful if we had one... especially once Harry is pregnant."

 

Woah.

 

Wait.

 

So he's going to be the male seahorse in this relationship?

 

Well, Harry supposed it made more sense. He was the... less masculine one of them and, unlike Voldemort, Harry didn't have any serious responsibility that may be hindered by pregnancy like... trying to take over Magical Britain (or was it the world?).

 

But still...

 

Voldemort could have had the courtesy to ask him first before announcing it to a bloody House-elf.

 

Dobby gasped and grasped his ears, tugging them as he asked, "You's be magically married?!"

 

"Of course." Voldemort walked towards Harry and placed a hand on Harry's shoulder. Harry stared at the hand currently on his shoulder with confusion and wariness that didn't register to Dobby for the poor house-elf was staring at Voldemort. Voldemort smiled at Harry as he said, "My feelings for Harry is too... deep for something as feeble as a muggle wedding."

 

Harry almost snorted but stopped when he felt Voldemort squeeze his shoulder. It wasn't too painful, feeling more like a warning to keep quiet.

 

Dobby was bobbing up and down in excitement as he said, "Dobby be honored to be you's house-elf! Yes! Dobby wishes be you's house-elf!"

 

Voldemort smiled charmingly at Dobby, making Harry's breath hitch.

 

Damn.

 

If that was Tom Riddle's charm, no wonder wizards and witches threw themselves at him, no matter how stupid his plan for magical world (or was it just Magical Britain? Seriously. Someone needs to give Harry a summary of what Voldemort wanted to do in the first place) was in the first place.

 

Voldemort let go of Harry's shoulder and walked towards Dobby, offering his hand to the energetic house-elf as he asked, "Then will you bound yourself to me, Dobby? Our engagement is still a secret and Harry already has a lot in his plate at the moment with this tournament and the school's general displeasure towards him as I'm sure you are already aware of. I'm afraid they would probably throw a fit if they hear Harry has bound a house-elf to himself. Do you understand, Dobby? We wish you to be our house-elf but it will be safer for Harry if you bound yourself to me instead."

 

Dobby grabbed Voldemort's hand with both of his smaller hands and nodded furiously as he said while light started to envelop his whole being and Voldemort's hand, "Yes! Dobby understands! Dobby bounds himself to you, Master-"

 

Harry couldn't help but sadistically smile when he saw Dobby's expression change from joy to confusion and ending with horror. Unknown to him, Voldemort's smirk curved into the same sadistic smile as he said, "'My lord' will be sufficient, Dobby."

 

Dobby turned towards Harry in fear and whispered, "Harry Potter, this man's-"

 

Dobby cried out and he let go off Voldemort's hand. He ran towards the table and began banging his head against it, causing some of the desserts to fall to the floor, as he shouted, "Bad Dobby! Bad Dobby! Saying bad things about Dobby's master!"

 

Voldemort raised an eyebrow and turned to look at Harry. Harry shrugged and explained in a nonchalant manner, "Dobby was a Malfoy house-elf before I freed him. The Malfoys pretty much made him barmy."

 

"You freed him from the Malfoys?" Voldemort asked in an amused tone.

 

"I wanted to annoy Lucius. Figured losing an elf to the Boy-Who-Lived would do it." Harry replied before adding, "Plus, Dobby almost killed me trying to 'protect' me from the Malfoys. If he continued to stay with the Malfoys, he might do something more drastic to... 'protect' me."

 

Voldemort hummed before ordering, "Stop punishing yourself, Dobby."

 

Dobby froze but continued to stare at the table. Voldemort walked towards Harry and placed his hand on Harry's shoulder once more before he ordered, "Look at me, Dobby."

 

Dobby hesitantly turned around, looking both afraid and closed to crying when he saw Voldemort's hand on Harry's shoulder. He bit his bottom lip, most probably to stop from warning Harry or something, and grasped his ears, pulling hard. Voldemort moved his hand, caressing Harry's cheek softly as he said, "Harry knows that I am Voldemort."

 

Harry stared at the hand caressing him, wondering if he could stab it with his fork.

 

"And he still wishes to marry me." Voldemort grabbed Harry by the chin and turned his head, smiling softly (Harry could feel bile in his mouth) as he asked, "Isn't that right, my dear?"

 

Harry wanted to pat his own back when he didn't even hesitate to play the part Voldemort had created for him. Harry smiled softly back and replied, "Of course, love tart."

 

Harry grinned when he saw Voldemort's eyes hardened but the older man continued to smile at him softly. Harry grabbed the hand on his chin and gripped it tightly, hoping it would bruise, as he placed it by his cheek. He pressed his cheek against Voldemort's palm as he whispered softly, "You're the only one who understands me."

 

"And I promised to protect you for eternity." Voldemort replied, rubbing his cheek with his thumb. They stared at one another, making sure to keep their expression soft and loving (although Harry was pretty sure he was close to vomiting and Voldemort was most probably thinking of Crucio-ing some poor muggle afterwards)

 

Voldemort turned towards Dobby and said, "I will not harm Harry nor will I let anyone harm him. He is precious to me and we will be married in Yule. For now, I am your master. Once we are married, you will be bound to Harry as well."

 

Dobby still looked worried. He glanced at Harry and Harry smiled softly at him as he said, "Please, Dobby, trust Tom. He truly is protecting me."

 

Dobby tugged his ears harshly once before asking worriedly, "Harry Potter loves... My Lord?"

 

Harry bit the insides of his bottom lip for a second before turning to look at Voldemort. He leaned against Tom's palm once more and replied, "I'm going to be magically married to him... for eternity."

 

Dobby seemed to accept that as a reply and he bowed at Voldemort as he proclaimed, "Dobby's be My Lord's house-elf."

 

Voldemort smirked triumphantly as he said, "Good. Thank you, Dobby."

 

Dobby seemed surprised by the words of gratitude (Harry almost snorted) but did not get a chance to reply because Voldemort was already ordering him, "For now, do your job as Hogwart's house-elf and tell no one that you are bound to me nor that I am here in Hogwarts. Keep an ear open for any conversations about either me or Harry and report to me every dinner about anything of significance. We must make sure Harry is safe here in Hogwarts."

 

Harry had to hand it to Voldemort... he knew how to twist words.

 

"Also, continue providing breakfast in bed, lunch wherever Harry and I are alone in the afternoon and dinner here but..." Voldemort glared at the table filled with sweets, "prepare nutritious food. It's not healthy for Harry to eat sweets only."

 

Dobby gasped and nodded vigorously as he said, "Dobby's be preparing dinner now! Please wait!"

 

"Wait! Keep the trea-" Dobby disappeared with a pop together with the table, much to Harry's disappointment, "-cles..."

 

Voldemort smirked when he saw Harry pout. Harry glared at him and warned, "Just to be clear. You bound yourself to a very barmy house-elf, you prat."

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Star Wars Empire Strikes Back was released in 1980 so yeeaaahhh. Not messing the time line~!  
> …............ yet...  
> House-elf grammar is hard...


	3. Pillow Talk

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dinner and bedtime... or... Dinner and before bedtime

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> … 2 chapters in and the kudos are up to 344. Thank you to everyone who kudo'ed and bookmarked! Special thanks to those who comments. I do love hearing from you guys even if it's just to say how crazy this fic is. XD
> 
> Announcement: I won't be able to update this for next week since I'll be in Tokyo with my friend. CaRB will return for its weekly update afterwards... hopefully...
> 
> Thank you to fairy_phyre for correcting me with the whole Walpurga/Walburga. I seriously blame Walpurgis Nights for my confusion XD
> 
> Thank you to Cardfreak for pointing out my embarrassing grammar mistakes ^///^
> 
> Thank you to MelsNoble for pointing out another very, very embarrassing misspell that shows how bad I am in math XD
> 
> Warning for this chapter:  
> 1 unbeta'ed as usual  
> 2 Harry's musing returns  
> 3 There's a problem with tarts... yes, this needs to be a warning...  
> 4 Made up history for people in Hogwarts during Voldemort's time

Dinner was... both pleasant and awkward.

 

Dobby was still wary about Voldemort but seemed more relaxed and respectful than he was when he was bound to the Malfoys.

 

It probably helped Voldemort made it a point to appear like the perfect loving gentleman when Dobby was there and Harry aided by acting like the kind loving savior Dobby expecting him to be.

 

It was tiring but amusing, calling Voldemort by different cheesy terms of endearment.

 

His favorite was still 'love tart', of course.

  
The awkward part came from Harry having to explain in great details about his past. By great details, he meant great details in the magical world and vague, almost non-existent details in the muggle world.

 

Yeah.

 

Seriously not going to open that big can of worms called 'Pre-Hogwarts Years'.

 

Voldemort seemed to realize Harry was leaving a lot of details but was kept occupied by the many misadventures and unluckiness Harry had to go through... mostly because he knew he should act like an impulsive heroic Gryffindor.

 

Having Gryffindorean 'friends' helped as well.

 

Harry had never been to a therapist. The Dursleys made sure of that. The closest he got had been the school councilor and that didn't pan out well thanks to the rumors circulating about his 'bad behavior'.

 

Harry was pretty sure his school record had the warning 'compulsive liar' in it.

 

It probably didn't help that the first time he went to the student councilor, he ripped off the plot of Star Wars: A New Hope and explained it to the councilor as his 'past'.

 

But, if Harry had to guess, he felt that talking to Voldemort about his life was how it would have felt like if he ever had a therapist.

 

Voldemort kept quiet most of the time, commenting once in a while, asking for clarification or more details at some of Harry's rants. Harry knew that Voldemort was internally categorizing everything Harry told him. He was pretty sure Voldemort had built an internal 'Harry James Potter' folder in his head where everything Harry related was stored to be used if needed.

 

Briefly, Harry wondered if Voldemort would rename the folder to 'Harry James Riddle-Gaunt' once they were married.

 

Honestly, Harry wouldn't be surprised if the label would change to 'Consort' or 'Spouse' or 'The Menace I Can No Longer Kill' after their marriage.

 

Maybe he should label his own internal Voldemort file as 'The Dark Lord I Shagged' after their wedding night.

 

Musing about internal files in general, Harry concluded he might actually have different files for Voldemort and Tom Riddle. He imagined his file on Voldemort was more like a box where he dumped everything he heard, read and saw concerning the Dark Lord while his file on Tom Riddle was a smaller box organized with information from the diary itself and the little bits of information or trivia he managed to find in Hogwarts about Tom Riddle.

 

It just seemed easy to differentiate Voldemort, evil Dark Lord hell bent on killing Harry, and Tom Riddle, Hogwarts graduate who seemed too perfect to be true.

 

Harry supposed he should merge the two imaginary files soon.

 

Regardless of Voldemort's ulterior motive (and putting aside the imaginary file merging), Harry could care less. He was more worried about no longer being able to eat his precious treacle tart... something he whined about to Voldemort during his rant as well.

 

Apparently, his displeasure got across since Voldemort ordered Dobby to prepare them every dinner with a warning of 'one tart per dinner, Potter. Do not push it.'

 

Harry counted it as a win and wondered if it would be possible to have Voldemort as the 'whipped' one in their marriage.

 

Harry knew he would be the submissive one in the relationship. Voldemort was older (and there was a part of Harry that still shuddered over that), more powerful (why Dumbledore thinks he could defeat Voldemort was really a question that makes Harry question Dumbledore's questionable sanity) and more manipulative (Tom Marvolo Riddle was considered one of the best students Hogwarts ever had and no one, other than Dumbledore and the Slytherins, ever realized he was a Dark Lord trainee back then) wizard between the two of them.

 

But he didn't need to be dominant to get what he wanted.

 

Perhaps the term 'whipped' would not be accurate to what he wants.

 

He simply wanted... leverage over Voldemort.

 

And, dare he say it, getting treacle tarts for dinner every day was a good place to start in his internal 'Make-My-Husband-Be-Unable-To-Deny-Me-Things' plan.

 

Considering that the plan had too many hyphens and too many syllables, Plan 'Whipped' was really just a better name.

 

Harry may have adopted his 'Snag-And-Marry-A-Rich-Influential-Person-To-Get-Away-From-The-Dursleys' plan from his pre-Hogwarts years and have started to internally modifying it to his 'Whipped' plan.

 

"You are thinking too hard." Voldemort's voice forced Harry to finally get out of his musing and stare at the Dark Lord currently using his wand (damn it, he really need to find a way to get his wand back) to silently order a floating quill to write on the floating parchment in front of him.

 

After dinner, Harry and Voldemort had managed to return to the Gryffindor tower without a problem with the use of Voldemort's various spells (notice-me-not charm, repellent charm, disillusion charm... to name a few) and Harry's Invisibility Cloak.

 

Harry had to get out of the cloak when they neared the portrait leading to the Gryffindor tower to say the password to their house's portrait and he led an invisible Voldemort to his dorms. Not paying attention to the glares (Ron), stares (Dean and Seamus) and glances (Neville) he got, he grabbed his toiletries, went to the bathroom to do his nightly activities then return to the awkward silence of the dorms. He grabbed his shoulder bag and ungracefully threw it on his bed. He went to his bed without bothering to say good night to anyone (although he did notice Neville seemed like he was about to say something), pulled the covers for privacy and Voldemort placed various charms to keep his fellow dorm mates seeing, hearing or interrupting them.

 

Afterwards, Voldemort had used his wand to make a parchment and quill start writing. Finding Voldemort preoccupied with whatever was getting written on the parchment, Harry grabbed his potions book and a parchment. He stacked his other books and placed the parchment on top. He grabbed an ink bottle and another quill before flipping the potions book to the page he needed to write the 15 inches essay Snape had assigned to his class.

 

Harry didn't really want to write the essay and it's not like it's going to make a difference in the first place considering Snape will find enough 'problems' in the damn essay that the resulting points will just be the same as Harry not delivering the assignment in the first place.

 

That had been 30 minutes ago and Harry had passed the 13 inches mark, unsure on what to write for the last 2 inches considering he had already finished the main essay of describing the history and effect of the damn ingredient they had to write about.

 

Harry wondered if he had to check other books in the library for more crap to put in his essay.

  
Knowing it was futile to sneak out just to get more books for an essay he didn't want to write for a subject he found interesting but did not want to go to because of the professor who hates his guts but still protects him from the shadows which only makes Harry confused as hell, he had started to muse about his... 'Whipped' plan.

 

"'Whipped' is not exactly an accurate term."

 

Harry blinked at that comment before he raised his head to stare at Voldemort. Voldemort simply continued to stare at the charmed quill and parchment as it continued to write whatever Voldemort wanted to write.

 

"You know?" Harry asked, wondering why Voldemort didn't seemed bothered by it.

 

"You were thinking too loudly." Voldemort explained with disinterest.

 

Harry blinked once more before asking, "Out loud?"

 

Voldemort sighed and tapped the wand against Harry's forehead without bothering to turn his eyes away from the parchment as he replied, "No, my dear fiance. You simply think too loudly."

 

Voldemort finally turned to look at Harry and said in an amused tone, "Personally, I do find it annoying you are using a childish plan you conjured for a muggle but I suppose I should find it also amusing that you think it would work on me."

 

Harry scoffed and retorted, "I got you to let me have Treacle tarts for dinner."

 

Voldemort smirked, too predatory for Harry's liking, as he reminded him, "And I can easily revoke it at will."

 

Harry looked panicked for a moment, causing Voldemort to raise an eyebrow. Harry's eyes narrowed and he hissed, "You wouldn't dare. Even you are not that evil."

 

"It's a tart, Potter." Voldemort sneered, masking his confusion with annoyance, "There's no need for such drama over food."

 

"It's not the food itself, Tom!" Harry hissed, glaring at Voldemort. At the sound of his real name, Voldemort glared back but remained quiet as Harry passionately explained, "It's what it represent! That tart is something you have willingly given me. A symbol of freedom I never had! You take that away and you show me you are simply a cold prat with no morals or feelings!"

 

What in Merlin's...

 

"Did you listen to the garbage you just said? It's a tart, Potter, not your bloody liberty paper." Voldemort hissed, feeling a migraine coming up.

 

This was ridiculous.

 

"And you're taking my freedom tart away from me!" Harry protested in an annoying shriek that briefly reminded Voldemort that one time Orion had mistaken called Walburga fat.

 

All of his inner circle had backed away, pushing Orion to face Walburga's banshee shrieks head-on.

 

That night was now known as 'The Night of the Fat Banshee'. (Name courtesy by Lestrange and Mulciber)

 

"Potter, it's a tart." Voldemort hissed, "You don't need a bloody tart to be free."

 

"You're not listening to me, Tom! It's not the tart but-"

 

Dear Merlin, did Harry have banshee shrieks lesson from Walburga?

 

"Oh for the love of Salazar!" Voldemort growled, "Fine! Have your bloody tart! I don't care anymore!"

 

Harry looked at him, his big green eyes that reminded Voldemort of the killing curse too much for comfort, glistening with tears against the light brought by the Lumos Voldemort had cast a while ago.

 

"I want apple pie too." Harry mumbled sadly.

 

"Fine! We'll have Dobby prepare you a slice for lunch!" Voldemort hissed, rubbing the bridge of his nose in an attempt to calm his nerves and not actually try to curse the mini-Walburga next to him (not that it'll work).

 

He suddenly felt bad for Orion having had to deal with this for the rest of his married life.

 

Voldemort even considered it now a miracle that Regulus grew up to be a normal pure-blood wizard. He couldn't say the same to the blood-traitor Sirius Black though...

 

"Thanks, Tom. You're the best!" Harry happily said, smiling angelically at him.

 

Voldemort stared at Harry for a moment in silence as the younger boy continued to smile at him.

 

"You... manipulative little minx." Voldemort choked, unable to believe what his rational mind just realized.

 

Harry's sweet smile turned more playful and smug as he said, "And that is why, Tom, Plan 'Whipped' is progressing smoothly."

 

"I can-"

 

"Please, Tom, if you say 'revoke your tart and your pie' or something as equally stupid as that, I would have to reply something along the lines of 'that's not really showing you have the power, Tom, and simply shows that I was right' because, let's face it, revoke both of them and you show me that you had no control over them in the first place." Harry challenged, grinning at Voldemort triumphantly.

 

"You do realize that your explanation, if you can even call it that, did not make sense at all." Voldemort countered, turning to glare at the parchment and quill still writing. Voldemort's glare turned more annoyed when he noticed that the quill had wrote about the damn tart on the parchment.

 

"Sense was never the issue." Harry retorted with a shrug, "In a nutshell, I have my tart and my pie which means I won that round. Revoke either or both of them and that other round will also be mine."

 

"And if I don't?" Voldemort hissed, flicking the wand to magically erase all words pertaining to the damn tart on the parchment.

 

Harry shrugged and went back to staring at his essay as he replied, "I'd say it's a draw."

 

Voldemort turned to glare at him and hissed, "This isn't over, Potter."

 

Harry raised his head to grin at Voldemort and replied, "Oh, yes, my dear Tom. This... is just the beginning."

  
They stared at one another a minute, Voldemort with his murderous glare and Harry with his cheerful grin. Voldemort was the first one to turn away, glaring at the parchment as he said, "Applications and examples where that ingredient is used should fill the remaining 2 inches of your essay."

 

Harry stared at him for a moment before asking, "Thinking too loudly?"

 

"Very much so." Voldemort frowned as he mused, "We should rectify that as soon as possible. An unguarded mind like yours can easily fall prey to Dumbledore's probing."

 

Harry frowned and asked, flipping the pages of his book to find any potions that uses the assigned ingredient, "So... you're reading my mind?"

 

Voldemort flicked his wand, casting a nonverbal drying spell, as he answered, "No, our minds are linked. Perhaps it has always been linked since that night I tried to kill you. Either way, the link has intensified due to the bind, most probably."

 

“And you're fine with that? No temper tantrum? No threats of killing someone?” Harry asked, actually amused at how nonchalant Voldemort had taken their mind connection.

 

The quill stopped writing and hovered in mid-air while Voldemort remained silent. Harry raised his head to stare at Voldemort and saw the older wizard staring at the parchment floating in front of him with a thoughtful look. Voldemort placed his hand by his chin, his point finger slightly covering his lips as he finally said, “It is quite... curious...”

 

“What is?” Harry asked, tilting his head slightly to the side.

 

“Before this bind, I would have been more... incline to violent irrational reactions that will do nothing but be a temper tantrum. The idea of being bound to you would have made me more murderous, threaten to kill you or those you love-”

 

“Good luck with finding one.” Harry couldn't help but comment sarcastically.

 

“And find a way to punish you for your cheek.” Voldemort added, turning to glare at Harry who simply grinned at him. Voldemort sighed and turned to stare at the parchment once more before he continued, “Quite frankly, my thoughts seemed clearer than it had been since the later years of the first war. If I even try to think about my previous actions during those years, I find them incredibly idiotic and unnecessarily violent.”

 

“Perhaps you can say the reason why I am not trying to kill everyone in this room right now is because of how clear my thoughts are. Throwing a tantrum would accomplish nothing. Had we still been enemies, yes, I would have been very cross over this connection and perhaps use it to my advantage.” Voldemort admitted before waving Harry's wand towards Harry's direction as he continued, “But since we're on the same side, this link is beneficial to us. At the very least, you can use this link to send me your thoughts or project images that will aid me or help you in making me understand your current situation.”

 

Harry realized that Voldemort had segued from his musing about his new found clarity (?) but Harry let it go. If it meant Harry's safety, Harry would be happy to let Voldemort muse all he wants. Harry's frown deepened and he asked, "So why can't I hear your thoughts?"

 

"Because, unlike you, I have a form of protection around my mind." The parchment rolled by itself and landed on Voldemort's hand. Voldemort mentally mused how Harry seemed unaffected by Voldemort's bluntness over his trying to kill him.

 

Then again, Harry seem to be unaffected by most things.

 

"You wouldn't be able to pry anything from me even if you use a mental sledgehammer." Voldemort added in a distracted manner, flicking his wand and whispering a spell to the parchment. Harry's entire being froze when he felt Dark magic envelop the entire bed, wrapping around him like an enticing silky embrace.

 

Harry glared at Voldemort and hissed, "Are you insane?! You'll trip the wards!"

 

Voldemort scoffed and smirked as he replied, "No need to worry your pretty little head, my dear fiance. I've already changed the wards of your bed to ones in the chamber."

 

Harry blinked and asked, "When did you do that? And you can do that?!"

 

"While you hid in the bathroom and your dorm mates awkwardly whispered behind your back. Of course I can do something as simple as warding. I am Lord Voldemort." Voldemort replied nonchalantly before adding, "Did you know that the blood traitor has been vilifying you to your other dorm mates?"

 

Harry scoffed and replied in annoyed tone, "Of course he had."

 

"It was interesting to watch." Voldemort admitted, smirking as he commented, "I seem to remember you and him being... annoyingly brother-in-arms back in your first year here in Hogwarts."

 

"All the more painful it is for him, I suppose." Harry mumbled, writing about the potion that made use of the crushed ingredient to make the sleeping aspect of the potion more potent, "He feels betrayed and other human emotions that clouded his rational mind to realizing that I am not a greedy fame whore. It really just show how fickle humans are."

 

"He's a Weasley and a Gryffindor. They're not rational nor do they think further than their own personal being." Voldemort hissed, making Harry raise an eyebrow.

 

"Speaking from experience, Tom?" Harry asked in a slightly amused tone.

 

"Your grandfather, a fellow Light wizard and Gryffindor, couldn't stand the Weasley of our time. That should give you an idea on how disliked the Weasley family is." Voldemort said, making Harry blink. Harry was about to open his mouth when Voldemort called out, "Dobby."

 

Dobby popped right next to Harry, looking fearful, as he asked, "My Lord called for Dobby, sir?"

 

"Give this to the Defense professor. Make sure he is alone when you give this to him and tell him that his lord shall contact him by tomorrow and to strengthen the privacy wards around his personal quarters." Voldemort ordered, handing the rolled parchment to Dobby's fearful hands, before addressing Harry, "Of course, Charlus was more of a Grey wizard than pure Light so perhaps his blatant disgust over Weasley isn't exactly a good evidence on how fallen the blood traitor family is. He was also crazy enough to marry Dorea Black."

 

Harry blinked and asked, "Black? I have Black blood in me?"

 

Neither of them paid attention to Dobby disappearing and Voldemort explained, "Dorea has always been a bit of an eccentric by Black standards. Falling in love with a Light wizard, paying no attention to other pure-bloods and annoying Walburga for no other reason other than for amusement and boredom. Many of us were simply surprise she hadn't been disowned when she married Charlus. I did enjoy her company more than Walburga and the other Blacks, baring Orion. She wasn't the ideal pure-blood daughter but she was entertaining at least. I could have lived without having to hear Walburga's banshee screams every night though."

 

Internally, Voldemort wondered if Harry got his sadistic playfulness from his paternal grandmother. Dorea had always enjoyed watching the suffering of others as a way to pass time... especially Walburga's.

 

"This means I'm related to Sirius." Harry smiled before frowning as he remembered, "And... Malfoy."

 

"Potter is an old pure-blood family. You're bound to be related to many other pure-bloods who annoy you." Voldemort reminded him in a dismissing manner before tapping his wand to the essay lying forgotten on the top of his books, "Finish this essay now as we have unfinished business that needs to be taken care of before we rest for the night. Tomorrow we will meet with your Defense professor."

 

"Moody is working for you?!" Harry hissed, not believing an ex-Auror and friend of Dumbledore would follow the Dark Lord.

 

Voldemort scoffed and retorted, "Of course not. Someone mad enough to be friends with Dumbledore is certainly not sane enough to follow me."

 

"Then why?" Harry blinked at Voldemort.

 

Voldemort sighed and said in a dismissing manner, "You will find out tomorrow."

 

Harry glared at him and retorted, "I don't like that, you know."

 

Voldemort raised an eyebrow and Harry turned his head to glare at his essay, writing the necessary last 2 inches, as he explained, "'You'll find out tomorrow'. 'I cannot reveal it right now'. 'I'm sorry, Harry. I can't say it right now. You will now when the time comes'. You sound like Dumbledore."

 

Voldemort glared at him and hissed, "Then why don't you try to find out?"

 

Harry shrugged and replied, "Why bother finding out the hard way when you can just ask?"

 

Voldemort turned to glare at Harry's essay as he retorted, "And if no one answers?"

 

"Personally, I think torture or blackmail loosen tongues." Harry commented nonchalantly, not seeing Voldemort's surprised look, "But, since I'm the Golden Boy of the Light, I can't do either. If it's the Light who hides something then I just go along with my Gryffindor comrades' idiot ideas and hope I survive. I find out sooner or later anyway. If it's the Dark who hides something, well... Actually, I also just go along with my Gryffindor comrades' idiot ideas and hope I survive."

 

Voldemort stared at Harry who continued to write his essay. Once he hit his 14 inches mark, Voldemort finally relented, "Barty Crouch Junior is impersonating Moody using Polyjuice."

 

"Oh?" Harry replied in a dismissing manner, continuing to write his conclusion for the last 15th inch.

 

"His order was to..." Voldemort gritted his teeth as he admitted, "... make you participate in the competition and make sure you will be the one to get the cup that will be turned to a portkey to where I would be performing the ritual to procure a body."

 

Harry stopped writing and slowly raised his head to stare at Voldemort, "He's the one who put my bloody name in that shitty cup?"

 

"Yes." Voldemort replied with a nod, "I needed your blood for my ritual."

 

"And you couldn't just make any of my belongings, the quill I use, the cup I drink from, my bloody glasses, for Merlin's sake, instead?!" Harry hissed, glaring at Voldemort.

 

Voldemort shrugged as he replied, "My resurrection should be... dramatic."

 

"Oh yeah, 'cause how dramatic would it be if the Boy-Who-Lived just disappeared when he grabbed his drinking cup, right?" Harry sneered, glaring at Voldemort. Harry groaned and hit his forehead against the parchment, not caring if the ink wasn't dry yet, "You're the reason why I'm in this situation, you overly dramatic egotistic prat."

 

"And why I am in this situation." Voldemort retorted, glaring at Harry, "Get off your high horse, Potter. I know it wasn't my best plan but I was not exactly sane back then. Perhaps a part of me wanted you to die in the trials as well. Anything to get you out of the damn picture because you always ruin everything I build."

 

"And what makes you think you aren't insane anymore?" Harry challenged, raising his head to glare at Voldemort.

 

"Because of this bind." Voldemort admitted, raising Harry's wand. Harry flinched when light erupted from the wand, straight towards him, but blinked when nothing seem to have changed. Voldemort rolled his eyes and said, "Relax. I simply cleaned the ink from your face."

 

Harry stared at Voldemort, unsure on how to reply to that. Thankfully, Voldemort didn't seem to care and explained, "The ritual seemed to have given me this body. You must probably heard that I was not in my right mind during the last years of the first war. The Dark rituals I have done had... corrupted me. My fail-safe to escape death had also brought damage to my soul. By using the Slytherin Binding Ritual, I've been given a body to satisfy all the necessary conditions for the bind to end. My mind has also been repaired by the intensifying of the link between our minds. Perhaps the ritual also repaired the damage done to my mind as well."

 

Harry frowned as he asked, "Where are you getting all of your explanation?"

 

"It's a hypothesis based on observations and application of various magical theories I have read before." Voldemort replied, shrugging.

 

"Soooo... you're guessing?" Harry couldn't help but grin at Voldemort.

 

"Finish your bloody essay, Potter." Voldemort ordered with a glare.

 

"You're not denying it." Harry commented in a sing-song manner but started to write once more. He wrote about three sentences before he said, "This doesn't mean I forgive you about this."

 

Voldemort rolled his eyes and commented in a deadpan tone, "You break my heart, love."

 

Harry scoffed and retorted, "When we marry, you're sleeping on the couch for a week, dear."

 

"Once we consummate our marriage, Potter, you wouldn't want me out of bed." Voldemort proclaimed smugly, smirking at Harry.

 

"While we are consummating our marriage, please be reminded that you are taking the virginity of a fourteen year old boy." Harry smirked as he added as an afterthought, "You dirty old man."

 

Voldemort refused to show the slight disgust he felt once he was reminded of Harry's age. Instead of continuing their banter, Voldemort announced, "Once you've completed your essay, I will teach you a spell that will make Barty acknowledge you as my... representative."

 

Because that was more important than bantering with Harry Potter.

 

Definitely not because he had no retort against Harry's real age.

 

Definitely not.

 

"Oh?" Harry replied as he continued to write the final words in his essay.

 

"You will find it to your liking." Voldemort smirked as he explained, "It causes much... discomfort to my followers."

 

"Oh?" Harry raised his head in interest.

 

"Finish your essay, Potter, then I will teach you a neat trick to punish bad dogs." Voldemort reminded him, amused by the interested glint in Harry's green eyes.

 

Harry began writing faster, causing Voldemort to let out a light chuckle at Harry's eagerness to learn... disciplinary spells.

 

"You will teach me how to protect my mind too, right?" Harry asked once he finished the essay before blowing his parchment in an effort to dry the ink.

 

"Perhaps." Voldemort replied in a distracted manner, internally listing the books he will have Harry read for practical spells that would stop him from acting so... muggle-like...

 

"If I find a reason to actually bother fortifying it."

 

"You just said-"

 

"I know I did." Voldemort cut him off before explaining, "While Dumbledore and Snape are good at reading minds, they won't do it so blatantly, especially not to you. You might not have the proper training but even someone as ignorant as you would be able to recognize something is wrong if they do try to invade your mind. They can also only do it when you look at them in the eyes. Only your surface thoughts would be read, I assume, since that will be hardest to detect and only if necessary. As long as you keep your thoughts of me away when you look at them in the eye, you will be fine."

 

"I want to learn how to protect my mind." Harry said, glaring at him, not bothering to deny that he is ignorant.

 

"And you will. There are just more spells you must prioritize learning before that." Voldemort reasoned, glaring at him as well.

 

"You'll regret it." Harry warned, making Voldemort raise an eyebrow out of amusement.

 

"Will I?" Voldemort challenged, "And why is that?"

 

"My mind is unprotected. Everything I think filters to you. Sooo..." Harry took a deep breath and tried to remember a certain memory.

 

Voldemort almost gagged when a flash of a nude walrus-like boy appeared in his mind, doing various disturbing poses at a full body mirror that would have looked aesthetically appealing to a model but just looked pathetic and disgusting when done by the walrus-like boy.

 

Voldemort turned to glare at Harry and Harry grinned as he asked, "Still think I don't need to learn to protect my mind, Tom?"

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The filing part may or may not be important later on...  
> Dorea part is not entirely important. Perhaps a way of saying Harry's sadistic playfulness comes from his paternal grandmother?  
> And the shrieking may be the Black blood? XD


	4. Harry's New Past Time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The first day of Harry being mentally linked to Voldemort leads to some... playful pranks.  
> Some are scared.  
> Others are traumatized.  
> Harry and Voldemort are amused.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning for this chapter:  
> 1 unbeta'ed as usual  
> 2 Harry makes use of his unfiltered mental link  
> 3 Voldemort silently uses said mental link for his own amusement  
> 4 Harry has found a role model (Hogwarts' screwed)

According to Voldemort, yes, Harry still didn't need to protect his mind.

 

In retaliation, Harry tried to conjure all of the disgusting memories he had, most of which are accidents of barging into the same room Dudley was making a fool out of himself.

 

With a bit of his dorm mates' misfortune of forgetting to lock the door or cast privacy charms while getting used to the joys of puberty.

 

There was also that one time Harry had opened the door to the master's bedroom the same time his uncle was giving his aunt some... 'loving'.

 

Had Harry been a normal child, he was pretty sure he would have been traumatized by that recollection.

 

Since Harry was not a normal child, all he managed to think was how flabby his uncle was and how did something like that get inside his aunt.

 

Or was the fact that he only felt a mild disgust over the recollection a sign of his non-existent sanity in the first place?

 

Regardless, Harry found it funny that Voldemort seemed disgusted over the memory but found young Harry's musing during that time both amusing and disconcerting.

 

When he managed to use all of those memories, he started imagining things.

 

Some were disgusting which either amused or disgusted Voldemort.

 

His imagination on how to publicly humiliate Snape was one of the few that both amused and disgusted the Dark Lord. Apparently, a naked Snape with the chocolate card of Dumbledore hiding his private parts wasn't a pleasant image... who knew?

 

Some were amusing that made Voldemort bite back a snort or a reaction.

 

Some were just plain... weird.

 

Even by Harry standard.

 

Nevertheless, it brought amusement to Harry so he wouldn't say it was a waste of effort.

 

His imagination had always been his main source of entertainment since he was a child.

 

Being locked up in a cupboard for days would do that.

 

His internal monologue on how dirty it would be to remain barefooted in Hogwarts which is under a Headmaster who most probably don't give a care about the cleanliness of the floors which are walked by different children and beings had silently forced Voldemort to transfigure Harry's dirty sneakers to boots.

 

It also brought the proclamation "We will be shopping for clothes that actually suits you. I will not have a shabby Consort." from the now boot-wearing Dark Lord.

 

… Harry was already thinking of which music to use for his 'trying on clothes' montage.

 

Apparently, Voldemort was so old he actually didn't understand what Harry was thinking.

 

That thought got him a painful memory of how a woman (my dear lovely Bella according to Voldemort) had flayed a wizard alive while conscious.

 

It only made Harry interested in learning the spell.

 

A well-timed mental image of him being a ghost, haunting Dumbledore (he might have been channeling Myrtle on that image), while Voldemort was drinking his tea in bed (bless Dobby for the delicious meal) had the Dark Lord almost spit out his tea.

 

Voldemort, who followed Harry silently to class hidden by his Invisibility Cloak and the different notice-me-not and disillusions spells he cast before reluctantly returning Harry's wand, seemed to find most of Harry's thoughts amusing, not that he would admit it.

 

While he cannot see Voldemort, the older man did use their mental link to project images or words in reaction to most of Harry's musing. It seemed that the older wizard could not only protect his own mind but manipulate Harry's mind to a certain extent.

 

When Harry had silently asked if it was possible for Voldemort to 'possess' Harry, Voldemort didn't send any images or words back.

 

Harry took it as a silent 'yes' which he simply took on stride.

 

With the bind on full effect, Voldemort couldn't hurt Harry anyway. The most damage the Dark Lord could do with possessing him is probably make him kill people or make a fool out of himself.

 

The first idea... seemed like something a big bad Dark Lord would do.

 

The second idea... seemed like something Harry would do.

 

Nevertheless, Harry filed that thought for a later confrontation and amused himself with his imagination while going to classes.

 

His musing of an exorcism of their ghost history professor using muggle movies as base (Harry had imagined Dumbledore actually going 'the power of Christ compels you!') was invaded by Voldemort's memory of a real wizard exorcism which was more interesting than having to listen about the Goblin wars.

 

To be fair, Harry's internal musing of how hard it is to make a poison apple the same way Snow White's wicked stepmother made it was more amusing than the Goblin wars.

 

... Voldemort shared a few titles of books which may helped Harry's search for Snow White's poisoned apple.

 

If Snape wasn't such an evil bully towards Harry, Harry would have been tempted to try to recreate the poisoned apple.

 

... for educational purposes, of course.

 

Yup.

 

Totally for educational purposes...

 

The brief flashes of some of the Hogwarts students with hair as black as night and skin as white as snow that appeared on Harry's mind was purely coincidental.

 

It definitely was purely coincidental...

 

In charms, Voldemort pushed a memory of a young Tom Riddle doing the spell Harry was trying to perform... in the same class during this own time, it seems.

 

Harry retorted by mentally screaming 'show off' before replaying the memory again and again, in an attempt to mimic Tom Riddle's graceful movements because Harry knew his problems were in the wand movement. Voldemort had the nerve to push his amusement over Harry's obsession towards the memory which Harry retaliated by remembering one of the many times Ron had stuffed his face full of food then begin talking to him about Quidditch.

 

A second of pure Ron talking with his mouth full passed then Harry returned to the memory of Tom Riddle (how the hell Voldemort remembered it in 3rd person view is seriously not any of Harry's concern....... for now).

 

After a few more seconds of repeated observations (he was pretty sure Voldemort was annoyed by that), Harry finally managed to do the stupid charm. Turned out he was the first in his class, much to the envy of the other students. He was awarded 10 points which made the lions grin, as if his success was their success.

 

Harry wanted to sneer.

 

A short memory of Tom Riddle smiling humbly and saying thank you forced itself to his mind and Harry almost gagged at the sight of Tom Riddle, future Dark Lord, killer of innocent girls, smiling like a humble sweet angel.

 

Harry forced a mental image of him flipping off Voldemort while smiling humbly at his professor, making sure to copy the same smile and posture Tom Riddle had.

 

Which served to amuse both Harry and Voldemort when Filius obviously remembered Tom Riddle by his action, if the hitch of his breath and slight widening of his eyes was any indication.

 

Harry have never really bothered to practice smiling. His usual smile was the crooked awkward smile that most people seem to find adorable. It worked well with his shy meek image anyway.

 

Well, now that his image has been dragged to the gutter and rolled all over, Harry supposed he should just let loose and be... well... him.

 

By him, he meant finding ways to freak, annoy or/and insult people.

 

Apparently, acting like Tom Riddle put his professors on edge.

 

Before his class in Transfiguration, Harry dragged Voldemort back to his dorm and asked (more like begged) him to charm his hair to be neat. Voldemort, seemingly torn between finding amusement in Harry's plan and being annoyed over being used as a hair stylist, reluctantly charmed Harry's hair.

 

… They soon found out not even the powerful magic of the great Dark Lord could tame the cursed Potter hair.

 

They did manage to make it 'neater', Harry supposed.

 

Instead of the wild bird's nest that he usually had, Voldemort had commented it now looked like Harry had just rolled out of bed after a night of rough shagging (his words, not Harry's) and not look like Harry had run away from a tornado, got thrown via a wayward Portkey and had managed to fly a malfunctioning broom (again, his words, not Harry's).

 

Harry supposed it will have to do.

 

Voldemort looked so offended with the fact that his great power could not make the Potter hair submit proved to be so amusing that Harry let it go.

 

He had bigger fishes to fry anyway.

 

During Transfiguration, Harry tried to mimic Tom Riddle's posture and expression. He even raised his hand to answer one of McGonagall's question which served to surprise Hermione and the other Gryffindors.

 

Simply because he wanted to talk with the same intonation as Tom Riddle...

 

The widening of his Transfiguration's eyes and the jaw slack that was followed by a few seconds of gobsmacked silence was worth all the trouble.

 

McGonagall didn't even take off points or gave him detention when he called her 'Minnie' during that awkward silence. She just gave a large intake of breath and started mimicking a fish as she stared at him with wide surprised and frightened eyes.

 

That... was definitely one of Harry's most favorite Transfiguration classes.

 

He did found it strange when he noticed Theodore Nott stiffen when he spoke and how the young Slytherin had stared at him the entire time when he answered the question, his eyes widening slowly as Harry continued.

 

Regardless, Nott didn't do anything else so Harry simply shrugged it off.

 

Hermione was looking at him with confused eyes as well anyway.

 

Nott was probably just surprised by the sudden change of his demeanor or something.

 

Voldemort seemed to have found Nott's reaction interesting but did not bother to send any emotions or images through their link.

 

Harry didn't pry.

 

The kicker had been Potions, of course.

 

During Snape's class ritual of humiliating Harry by asking questions only a bookworm like Hermione or an upperclassman could answer, Voldemort seemed to have gotten annoyed and simply pushed the answers to Snape's questions through their link.

 

Never the one to not accept a free gift, Harry managed to answer all of Snape's questions, much to the annoyance and surprise of the head of Slytherin house, making sure to keep his Tom Riddle impersonation intact.

 

Harry paid no attention to the surprised look on Malfoy's face, the unnerving stare Nott was giving him or the interested glances Zabini and Greengrass were giving him.

 

Okay.

 

He lied.

 

He might have stared at Zabini for a few seconds then raise an eyebrow to silently ask him what the hell was his problem since he continued to stare at him even after Nott and Malfoy had turned around.

 

Zabini had the balls to smirk at him before turning his attention back to the board.

 

Greengrass seemed to have noticed Zabini's smirk and she turned as well, smiling at Harry.

 

Which only served to make Harry feel awkward and wary.

 

Slytherins...

 

They were just too troublesome to try and understand.

 

Voldemort seemed to be amused by that comment.

 

Harry then remembered Tom Riddle had been a Slytherin.

 

Again...

 

Slytherins were just too troublesome to try and understand.

 

Case in point: the older Dark Lord currently behind him, hiding in his Invisibility Cloak and lots and lots of disillusion and notice-me-not charms that just screams 'paranoid'.

 

While Harry was making the potion for their class alone because the class was an odd number and no one wanted the Boy-Who-Loves-Attention as their third wheel, Voldemort deemed it appropriate to show images of Snape groveling before him as well as images of Snape getting tortured.

 

Harry took some time to finally get over the fact that Snape was a follower of Voldemort.

 

Or is he still a follower?

 

Voldemort seemed to doubt either way if the foreign distrust in Harry's mind was any indication.

 

Regardless, the continuous torture of his bully professor brought a grin on his face as he continued to brew the potion.

 

Snape noticed him grinning and he swooped down to him, looking like a crow swooping down to peck the eyes of its prey. (Or a bat swooping down to... do whatever it was bats were supposed to do...)

 

"Something funny, Potter?"

 

Harry wanted to try out the torture spells Voldemort had used against Snape that very moment.

 

"No, sir." Harry said meekly, staring at his cauldron that he was waiting to boil. He could see most of the classmates glancing at them, grinning at his current situation.

 

Neville looked ready to faint though.

 

Hermione looked like she wanted to help Harry but was forced to maintain her focus on her own potion.

 

"Then why are you smiling like a buffoon?" Snape sneered, glaring at Harry.

 

"I wasn't, sir." Harry kept his voice meek and soft, trying to clear his mind.

 

"Look at me when I am talking to you, Potter." Snape ordered with so much disgust and hatred Harry wanted to sneer and mimic Voldemort.

 

Merlin forbid, he probably could make a believable Voldemort with the amount of memories of Voldemort being an evil Dark Lord he had been viewing since the start of Potions anyway.

 

Or...

 

Voldemort must have recognized that Harry was going to do something stupid because Harry felt their mental link tightened in response, as if making sure Snape wouldn't notice it.

 

Harry raised his head and stared at Snape's eyes just as he imagined...

  
_Soft lips kissing him roughly, pushing him against the table as graceful but demanding hands take off his robes. He barely heard the cauldron fall to the ground, grabbing hold of the taller man currently dominating him. He tried to push him away, managing to get his lips away from that demanding sinful tongue for a few seconds so he may whisper, "Stop, Tom..."_

 

_"You're not really trying hard enough, Harry." A sixteen years old Tom whispered, smirking the same smirk Voldemort had when he was about to Crucio someone._

 

_"Not here. Snape-" Harry moaned when Tom bit his neck, helplessly tugging the silver and green tie the older boy was wearing. Tom chuckled against the sensitive skin of Harry's neck._

 

_"-is not here." Tom finished with a wicked smirk on his angelic face, "Now shut up and raise your ar-"_

 

Harry blinked when he saw Snape take a few step backs, bumping into Malfoy who yelped. Harry made sure his face looked confused but his cheeks were slightly red as he continued to imagine.

 

Voldemort seemed surprised by the fantasy Harry had shown as well.

 

His experiences with physical displays of affections were only as far as friendly (awkward) hugs but he did watch enough muggle telly and cinemas to know some... of the risky variety. Using the Tom Riddle from the diary was just Harry's preference.

 

Voldemort seemed a bit insulted that Harry chose his diary version instead of him.

 

Harry wanted to roll his eyes.

 

Might as well practice his imagination to be more varied anyway.

 

And hopefully traumatize Snape in the process.

 

_"You look best like this, Harry." Tom whispered, smirking triumphantly as Harry tried to catch his breath._

 

_"Wait, Tom-" Harry begged once more but moaned helplessly as Tom captured his lips once more, demanding his entire attention to the determined tongue currently in his mouth. Harry gripped the fabric of Tom's robe tightly, grinding their crotches together as they pulled away._

 

_"Hush, love." Tom whispered, pulling off Harry's trousers, "Stop thinking and..."_

 

_Instead of 16 years old Tom, the form changed into Voldemort's current form, the older Tom Riddle, and he whispered in a low seductive voice, "Lose yourself to me."_

 

Woaaahh. Wait a minute.

 

This wasn't his...

 

Oh.

 

That sneaky dirty old man.

 

_"Tom!" Harry gasped, grabbing Voldemort's arms, moaning as the older man began thrusting roughly, the table creaking in protest to Voldemort's rough pace. He could feel Voldemort's cock inside him, stretching him, making feel so full._

 

_He loved every second of it._

 

_"Naughty chosen one. What would your Potions professor say once he hear you like it when I take you here, in his own classroom." Voldemort mercilessly thrust into the willing body under him, "This rough. This fast. This despera-"_

 

"ENOUGH!" Snape ordered, making Harry blink at the desperate creeping in his voice.

 

The red tint in Harry's cheeks weren't for show anymore.

 

He was so going to get Voldemort for this later.

 

Who did he think he was, fast-forwarding his own fantasy?!

 

Wasn't the foreplay suppose to be the fun part of shagging anyway?

 

And 'loving every second of it'?

 

Oh Merlin's soggy balls.

 

That prat definitely has a huge ego.

 

"Sir?" Harry whispered, making sure to sound a bit hoarse, like how his (and Voldemort's) imagination had sounded while he was getting ravaged against the table.

 

The very same table Harry was currently preparing the Potions for today.

 

Snape looked so pale Harry wondered if he was going to be sick.

 

Hopefully he throws up at Malfoy.

 

Internally, Voldemort was more than happy to continuing the image of Harry getting pounded by an older Tom Riddle so Harry maintained eye-contact, hoping this will traumatize Snape so bad he wouldn't annoy Harry.

 

"Stop it this instant!" Snape ordered and Harry could clearly hear the desperation and the plea in this tone.

 

Most of the students have began to stare at him with distrustful glares.

 

Perhaps they thought Harry was doing something?

 

Technically... Voldemort was doing that something now...

 

Speaking of the dirty old man... Internally, Voldemort had started conjuring images of Harry and Tom Riddle kissing, with too much moaning from imaginary Harry if real Harry was being honest.

 

Could... Voldemort actually lift Harry that high?

 

Sure, Harry knew he was smaller than an average fourteen years old and, yes, he was malnourished so he was underweight courtesy of his relatives' loving care (that thought caused Harry to feel something akin to surprise and anger from Voldemort which only made Harry confused).

 

In the real world, Harry simply looked at Snape confused and asked, "Stop what, sir?"

  
"Sto- Focus on your potion, Potter!" Snape shouted, making many of the students jump out of fear and surprise while Harry simply continued to stare at Snape until imaginary Harry whispers.

 

_"Inside me. Come inside me." Harry moaned, gripping Voldemort's hair tightly, “My Lord...”_

 

At the pale, almost looking like he was dying, surprised and horrified look Snape was showing, Harry finally lowered his head, staring at his potion in time to see it starting to boil as he whispered, "Yes, sir."

 

Harry continued to make his potion, letting Voldemort continue his... fantasy, commenting once in the while that...

 

No. He doesn't think he would moan that much, no matter how good Voldemort thinks he is in bed. (That, itself, is heavily debatable considering Voldemort had admitted he didn't see physical pleasure as a necessity)

 

Honestly? Harry does not know if he would enjoy it rough... or would even enjoy sex in general. He was a virgin so his preferences in sexual intercourse is unknown even to him.

 

He has touched himself but he was so not going to remember that one while his mind has no protection and Voldemort had front row seat.

 

Apparently, Voldemort wasn't paying any attention to him since he continued projecting his... fantasy...

 

He doesn't really think he's that flexible.

 

He did like dogs but he never thought of being one.

 

… Okay. The collar Voldemort imagined was a bit nice looking. That shade of green did bring out the color of his eyes.

 

No. He did not want to go for a 'walk'.

 

Oh Merlin.

 

No. Dark Lords should not traumatize fourteen year old virgins with toys.

 

No, seriously. How many toys are THERE?!!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Exorcist was released in 1973. While it dealt with demon possession, the quote “The power of Christ compels you” does come from that.  
> Harry was simply thinking of an exorcism in general.
> 
> … Their imagination in Potion class was so fun to write.
> 
> PS: I uploaded a side-story to this 'verse called [ 'The Musing of a Diary Hocrux' ](http://archiveofourown.org/works/4426181) (a prequel-ish oneshot written in diary!Tom's POV)


	5. Unleash the Mini-Walburga

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Voldemort realizes that Harry does have Black blood in him.
> 
> He also thinks Orion is probably smiling at him vindictively from the afterlife.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We have reached 646 kudo(s)! I am so, so happy *does the Joey dance*
> 
> Thank you to everyone who kudo'ed, subscribed and bookmarked this insanity. You guys are awesome <3
> 
> Special thanks to those who took the time to comment. It's a totally voluntary action and it makes my heart leap in joy knowing you guys took the time to comment, even if it's simply to say how much you love this insanity. XD
> 
> Also, thank you to MissPunkRockOtaku for pointing out my wrong grammar. ^w^
> 
> Anyway. Obligatory Warning for this chapter:  
> 1 unbeta'ed as usual  
> 2 might be considered slight!Weasley/Ron bashing. But it can also be argued that Ron was just the natural target  
> 3 More non-canon Magic being sentient stuff and Magical traditions and laws  
> 4 Voldemort has mood swings  
> 5 Harry shows he is, in fact, related to Walburga Black

Lunch was spent in the safety of the Chambers where Voldemort wrote down titles of books Harry must read... many of which are Wizarding etiquette and traditions. They finished lunch early and Harry dragged himself to the library to get the books in the list.

 

He avoided Hermione who avoided him as well although the bushy-haired girl almost had the courage to approach him but stopped when she was around 3 feet away from him, looked around and looked ready to cry, before rushing out of the library like she just remembered Harry killed her rabbit or something just as depressing. (The killing of a rabbit seemed to amuse Voldemort for some reason though...)

 

He also bumped into Victor Krum who looked torn between acting civil and trying to remember he shouldn't because Durmstrang considered Harry as an interloper.

 

Harry was a bit confused why Krum would even bother trying to act civil to him when the other foreign champion looked at him with disdain and his fellow Hogwarts champion avoided him like the plague.

 

Nonetheless, he paid little attention to the Bulgarian seeker, simply nodding his head and smiling shyly like how he remembered Voldemort's memory of Tom Riddle had done before, hoping it will make him less threatening to the older boy. Krum's eyes widened at his smile and he hastily turned around, walking briskly away without another word.

 

Harry was confused.

 

Did he... smile wrong?

 

Voldemort simply gave an impression of amusement in their link, not bothering to send any words or images that may help in easing Harry's confusion.

 

Putting aside his confusion, Harry grabbed all the books Voldemort listed and had them signed by Irma Pince, the librarian, who looked at him weirdly (which wasn't new).

 

Harry dragged his reluctant body to Divination and paired off with Lavender mainly because he didn't want to pair with Ron and Lavender was putty in his hands once he mimicked Tom Riddle's smile.

 

Lavender's friend, something Patil (he didn't bother remembering her first name), giggled at them while Lavender had tried to smile sweetly but only ended up awkwardly giving him a half-smile, seemingly unable to get over the fact Harry had smiled at her like that.

 

Seriously.

 

Was he mimicking Tom Riddle's smile wrong?!

 

Voldemort seemed to be amused each time Harry tried to mimic Tom Riddle.

 

Harry mimicked him just to make things easy for him and to freak his professors out. Professor McGonagall's reaction was really the highlight of Harry's day.

 

… and Snape's, as well.

 

They were tasked with interpreting their dreams and Lavender had asked what he dreamed about last night.

 

Saying he dreamed about torturing their Defense Against the Dark Arts professor would probably not be a good idea and Harry seriously did not want to fake dreaming of his own death... again.

 

Thinking of creative ways to die got boring after the second week of this school year.

 

Voldemort seemed more amused that he dreamed about that though.

 

... did that mean Voldemort didn't see his dream?

 

So maybe there was a limit to their mental link...?

 

"Er..." Harry bit his bottom lip and hesitantly said, "I had a dream I was in... a deep dark forest."

 

"Dark forest..." Lavender flipped through her book, looking for an interpretation of a dark forest.

 

"And I was lost, I think..." Harry wondered how far he could take this fake dream, "I called out the names of people I trust but no one answered."

 

Lavender stopped flipping through her book and raised her head to look at him. Harry continued to stare at the book on Lavender's lap as he said solemnly, "I kept running in circles, trying to call for anyone but there was no one. No one... answered back."

 

Just to make sure it sunk its claws, Harry smiled bitterly and mused softly, "Guess it was a straight forward dream."

 

"Oh, Harry." Lavender looked ready to cry.

 

Harry was pretty sure Voldemort was quietly laughing somewhere in the room.

  
Harry cleared his throat and said as he forced an awkward smile, "Sorry. How about we interpret your dream instead?"

 

"O-of course." Lavender nodded and started talking about the giant pink marshmallow she dreamed about last night.

 

Harry made sure to say he thought Lavender had a cute dream.

 

Lavender had squeaked the word 'cute' and her entire face was red.

 

Harry wondered why he never tried this route before.

 

Oh, right. Because he was acting as the shy idiot boy before, not the illegitimate grandson of Tom Riddle.

 

Voldemort did not appreciate that thought.

 

It seemed he was still bitter over Harry's “incestual pedophile” comment before.

 

For a Dark Lord, Voldemort certainly was sensitive over the silliest things.

 

At the end of the class, Lavender walked up to Ron, loudly called him 'a worse git than Malfoy' then slapped him in front of the other students. Ron just looked dumbly surprised and Lavender left, giving Harry a small shy smile on her way out. Even Patil... something... gave Ron the stink eye.

 

Ron will probably realize Lavender's attack was because of Harry but the dumb confused look on his face right now was worth it. Harry happily skipped out of Divination, happy that he has free period until dinner. He felt someone push him towards one of the hallways, away from the rest of the students. Before he could react, he was pulled and he felt the Invisibility Cloak cover him. Voldemort pressed him against his chest and grabbed his wand. Casting non-verbal disillusions and notice-me-not charms (Harry was beginning to think Voldemort was being overly paranoid), Harry waited patiently, not minding how his back was pressed against Voldemort's warm chest.

 

He never did understand people's desire for physical contact.

 

Voldemort was warm. Against the cold air that had invaded Hogwarts, the older man's warmth was nice.

 

It didn't make Harry feel anything special though.

 

Then again, physical contact never made Harry feel anything.

 

Unless it was painful then all Harry could feel was pain and the stubborn desire to not show anything in his expression. He learned early on that his uncle and cousin escalates their attacks whenever Harry showed any kind of emotion, positive or negative.

 

He felt Voldemort momentarily freeze behind him.

 

It took a second before Harry realized why.

 

Oh, right.

 

They were mentally linked.

 

Harry supposed he should stop thinking about all the 'loving care' he received from his relatives until he finds a way to keep Voldemort out of his head.

 

Harry internally imagined holding a box filled with all the memories he had concerning the Dursleys and threw them into a hole.

 

He felt Voldemort's surprise when he noticed inside the hole was a black diary with the title 'Tom Marvolo Riddle'. Harry hurriedly left the hole before Voldemort could even try to test the limit of their mental link.

 

That diary was never meant to be taken out of the hole... ever.

 

Once Voldemort was done being paranoid, they silently walked towards one of the windows overseeing the the lake, with Harry walking ahead while Voldemort had one hand on Harry's shoulder and another on his waist.

 

Once they were staring at the lake below, Voldemort asked, "Do you know if Barty still has classes?"

 

Harry wondered why Voldemort wasn't bluntly asking about what was inside the imaginary hole but did not say it out loud. Out of sight, out of mind... or something like that.

 

"Give me a sec." Harry took out the Marauder's Map from the side pocket of his trousers and opened it. He grabbed his wand from Voldemort's hand and tapped the map as he said, "I solemnly swear I am up to no good."

 

And Harry had to grin at how accurate that oath was right now...

 

Voldemort hummed when he saw the Marauder's Map show its contents, whispering, "Interesting..."

 

"My father and his friends created this for their pranks." Harry informed him as he checked the Defense of Dark Arts classroom, "There's a Bartemius Crouch currently in the Defense Against Dark Arts classroom with a lot of overlapping names. I guess he's still teaching..."

 

Harry blinked when he noticed a dot in the personal quarters for the Defense of the Dark Arts, "There's an Alastor Moody stationed in the quarters."

 

"That's the real Moody. Barty has him so that he could get the necessary hairs for the Polyjuice." Voldemort informed him, scanning the map for anything interesting. Voldemort blinked and hissed, "Morgana's soggy tits."

 

Harry blinked at the curse and commented, "Not a good mental image but whatever gets you off, I suppose."

 

"Look at where we are." Voldemort hissed, pointing at the two dots where they should currently be.

 

Harry read the names of above the dots.

 

Harry Potter.

 

Okay... nothing new there.

 

Marvolo... Slytherin...?

 

Wait.

 

Harry blinked.

 

It still read 'Marvolo Slytherin'.

 

Harry rubbed his eyes.

 

It was still 'Marvolo Slytherin'.

 

"Er..." Harry bit his bottom lip for a second before asking, "Does this mean I should internally call you 'Marvolo' instead of 'Voldemort'?"

 

The low amused (but sounded a bit crazy, to be honest) chuckle that erupted just next to Harry's ear made Harry's entire body freeze. Voldemort pulled him closer, wrapping his arm around Harry's waist as he whispered gleefully, "This means I have more reasons to be grateful to you, my dear."

 

"Oh, that's good, I suppose." Harry replied, blinking at the sudden use of a term in endearment, "Care to share why though? You know, for future reference..."

 

"Marvolo is the Gaunt name my mother gave me. While Tom is my father's-" Harry had to roll his eyes at the utter disgust Voldemort put in that one word, "-name, Marvolo is the magical name the Gaunt family has accepted."

 

Harry frowned as he asked, "We have magical names?"

 

"Most muggle-borns or muggle-raised children who were accepted by their Pure-blood family should have a magical name if the Pure-blood family is a traditional one. If you have no magical name, that means you were not accepted by that family."

 

"Have I mentioned to you I think traditional Pure-bloods are wankers?" Harry commented in a flippant tone before blinking as he mumbled, “Does that mean I have a magical name? Or is Harry James Potter my magical name because that's honestly a bit weird. I mean, it sounds so muggle...”

 

Not paying Harry any attention, Voldemort continued, "Since my mother was never disowned, Magic has deemed that 'Marvolo' is my magical name. That is why I am the heir of Slytherin through the Gaunt family even if I am a half-blood."

 

Yup. He was not getting an answer about his own magical name.

 

Self-centered egotistic prat...

 

"Okay..." Harry pouted as he said, "Still doesn't answer why your name is 'Marvolo Slytherin' in the map though."

 

"Because of you, my dear stupid fiance." Voldemort replied with an amused tone.

 

"Me?" Harry frowned, not really understanding.

 

"By doing the Slytherin Binding Ritual, you forced Magic to accept me as a Slytherin because I am the last one with Slytherin blood." Voldemort explained, tightening his hold on Harry as he continued, "You forced Magic to give me a body when I was enclosed into a disgusting weak golem. By forcing Magic to accept me as a Slytherin, Magic had to change me."

 

"Change you?" Harry repeated, wondering if that was a bad thing.

 

"As Tom Marvolo Riddle, I was simply Slytherin's heir by blood. I was not allowed to hold any of Slytherin's other magical properties for only one with Slytherin in their name can truly become Lord of all that Slytherin owns. Since my birth name is Tom Riddle, I was not deemed as a 'Slytherin'. But you, my dear oblivious lion-" Harry shivered involuntarily when he felt Voldemort's lips by his ear, "You forced Magic to change me from simply being Slytherin's heir to a Slytherin. Marvolo Slytherin is the man Magic turned me to so I may satisfy all the conditions for the bind to end. And the bind needs a Slytherin... a Slytherin who fulfills all the necessary requirements to qualify as the Lord of all magical and financial properties of the Slytherin line."

 

Harry blinked twice.

 

Dear Merlin on a Pogo Stick... (Voldemort actually raised an eyebrow at that image)

 

"Did I..." Harry gulped as he asked, "Did I just caused you to become more influential and powerful than before?"

 

"Oh, Harry, my dear sweet Harry-" Voldemort turned him around, the Invisibility Cloak dropping on the ground because of the sudden movement. Harry yelped (which Harry would vehemently say did not sound girlish) and staggered. Voldemort grabbed him by the waist while his other hand grabbed Harry's hand. Harry blinked when he realized they look like they were about to waltz but kept quiet as Voldemort explained, "You made me the most powerful wizard in the world. More powerful than the orphan prodigy Tom Riddle. More powerful than the feared Dark Lord Voldemort."

 

Harry was dragged into a silent waltz by the overly giddy Dark Lord (which was a frightening sight all by itself) as Voldemort explained, "The Slytherin line is one of the oldest line. Other noble and ancient families have made a magical oath of loyalty to the Slytherin line. That oath still carries over even now."

 

"Wait." Harry's eyes widened, a quick glance at one of the windows showed Harry that he looked like he was impersonating Hedwig, "I just got you more followers, didn't I?"

 

"Yes, my love." Voldemort maniacally laughed, twirling Harry away before pulling him back. Harry's chest bumped against Voldemort's and Voldemort leaned closer, whispering with obvious glee, "Not only are they bound to be loyal to me but any ancient and noble families that have died out but had sworn loyalty to the Slytherin line will automatically have all their magical and financial properties absorbed into the Slytherin line."

 

"So you're richer than before?" Harry whispered, letting Voldemort lead him to another waltz.

 

Voldemort laughed, spinning Harry before pulling him close and replying, "The financial properties are not important. It's the magical properties that are. Any loyalty oaths sworn to the dead family lines are passed down to the Slytherin line but any loyalty oaths those dead families swore becomes moot to the Slytherin line."

 

"Are you telling me that dead family lines gave the good oaths to you but left the bad ones?" Harry asked incredulously, "That's... awfully convenient!"

 

"Slytherin line is one of the oldest magical lines. The only oaths they would honor are oaths a Slytherin had made and that means they must carry the Slytherin name, any oaths made by the Gaunts or any other families with Slytherin blood are not honored for they are not a 'Slytherin'. The only oaths that can be passed down to the Slytherin line are oaths made towards magical lines as old or older than Slytherin."

 

"Like oaths from other Hogwarts founders?" Harry asked for clarifications.

 

"Yes." Voldemort looked so undeniably giddy it was disturbing, "But their lines have been dead for centuries. All the other family lines as ancient as Slytherin are dead!"

 

"Normal people would be sad about that." Harry commented without any bite.

 

"But we are not normal, are we, my dear?" Voldemort retorted, grinning as he continued, "With the loyalty oaths, many families will bow before me less they wish to become squibs. I will have to write Gringotts for a full financial and magical inventory of the Slytherin line but I am quite sure you have heavily crippled my oppositions."

 

Voldemort laughed maniacally before he placed his hands on Harry's cheeks, forcing Harry to stare at him as he whispered, "You may have just handed Magical Britain to me on a silver platter, my dear."

 

"Oh? Well, yey, I guess." Harry replied dumbly, unsure on how to react to what Voldemort had just said.

 

He wasn't really interested in the war between Light and Dark in the first place so he can't really appreciate how he may have just won the war.

 

He didn't really understand all Voldemort's talk about magical properties so it's not like he can honestly be sure Voldemort was right and not... being too dramatic.

 

Voldemort did have a thing for the dramatics.

 

Voldemort didn't seem offended by lack of joy and commented in an amused tone, "As my future consort, it is your duty to be happy for your husband."

 

Harry rolled his eyes and retorted, "As my future consort, does that mean you'll be happy for me when I catch the Snitch in a Quidditch match?"

 

Voldemort narrowed his eyes and hissed, "Did you just compare my victory to rule the magical world to you catching a flying ball?"

 

Harry blinked and asked back, "Wait, rule the magical world? Do you really think the Slytherin line has loyalty oaths from magical non-British families?"

 

Voldemort rolled his eyes and retorted, "Of course not. Not even Slytherin is that powerful. But once I conquer Magical Britain, conquering the rest of the magical world would be easy."

 

"Woah, hold up." Harry chuckled and grabbed Voldemort's wrists, pulling them away from his cheeks as he reminded him, "You can't just conquer Britain then set your eyes on your next victim. Once you conquer Britain, you would have to keep it under control. You would need a stronghold and make sure that it is safe from internal forces like coup d'etats and rebellions. You can't just screw Britain then leave to screw Germany or France or Bulgaria or any other magical countries."

 

"Your point is valid and noted." Voldemort nodded before grinning maliciously as he announced, "Once Britain falls under my rule, I will leave it up to you to protect my back while I subjugate the other magical countries."

 

Harry blinked.

 

Did he just...?

 

Oh, hell no!

 

"WHAT?!" Harry screamed, making Voldemort take a step back, as Harry began to screech, "Tom Marvolo Riddle-"

 

"Marvolo Slytherin." Voldemort automatically corrected, earning a deadly glare from Harry.

 

Dear Merlin, he had woken Harry's inner Walburga.

 

"Tom. Marvolo. Riddle." Harry hissed with defiant eyes that just urged Voldemort to correct him.

 

Years of observing Walburga has ingrained to Voldemort that he should just do what Orion does whenever Walburga decides to become a human banshee.

 

Shut up and suck it up.

 

"You will not leave your mess for me to clean up!" Harry screeched and Voldemort mentally wondered if looking like a pathetic cowed dog like how Orion would always look like would make mini-Walburga stop sooner, "Are you insane?! You might think I should find it an honor you would leave this shithole in my hands but are you really thinking of leaving Magical Britain to the hands of a fourteen years old boy?! Consort or not, I am not physically, mentally and politically prepared to lead a bunch of selfish arrogant children who throws temper tantrums when they don't get their way! Oh for Morgana's sake! I would have to deal with Fudge!!!"

 

Voldemort winced at the ear-bleeding screech Harry produced.

 

Good god.

 

Nails against boards sounds like a lullaby compared to that sound.

 

Walburga's shrieks actually paled in comparison.

 

He can actually see Orion shaking his head and telling him "This is karma, Tom. All those years you simply stared as Walburga screams at me. Now, feel my pain."

 

"Fudge no longer needs to be the Minister of Magic once Magical Britain is ours." Voldemort commented, hoping using the term 'ours' would calm the shrieking mini-Walburga a bit, "We can have Lucius-"

 

"Malfoy?! You want me to work with a MALFOY?!"

 

Merlin have mercy upon his tattered soul...

 

Even he knew he just dug his own hole deeper.

 

"You want me to work to keep selfish bratty children in line with one of the most selfish, self-absorbed arrogant brat?!" Harry shrieked, waving his hands in rage, as he continued, "You bloody idiot! The last thing I need is to be in the same room as that prat. Leave me in the same room as him those arrogant selfish brats this stupid world calls a Ministry and I will continuously cast Avada Kedavra and I WILL MEAN IT!!! I swear to Merlin, to Morgana, to Magic herself, if you make me rule Magical Britain because you are a selfish child who plays with your toy until they break then just give them to your consort so you can play with a new shiny toy, I will take our biological child, or children if I become stupid enough to let you touch me more than once, and leave you with your broken toy and all the unruly brats by yourself!"

 

Harry had shrieked full of rage and frustration so loudly Voldemort was eternally grateful he added a silence charm over them.

 

... He actually wouldn't be surprised if the silence charm wasn't able to fully silence that inhumane shriek.

 

Even a banshee shriek didn't sound that... frightening.

 

"You will not leave Magical Britain in my hands, you ambitious git! You will become the Minister of Magic and you will rebuild Magical Britain to your perfect little utopia! Once it's stable and fully under your control, only then will you be allowed to start your conquest for your next shiny toy. This is non-negotiable, Tom! You want me as your consort?! You swear to me you won't make me take care of your messes like a bloody housewife!" Harry ordered, glaring at Voldemort with so much rage in his eyes.

 

Voldemort feared he might still be insane when he realized he actually liked the rage in those beautiful Avada Kedavra eyes.

 

Quite frankly...

 

"You're beautiful."

 

"What?" Harry blinked, all of his rage turned into confusion.

 

Oh Merlin...

 

Did he say that out loud?

 

Before Voldemort could try to salvage the situation, Harry's rage and anger was back.

 

Oh dear...

 

Did it intensify?

 

"You are not getting away from this by flattering me, Tom!" Harry shrieked once more.

 

Was it even possible to shriek more inhumane than before?

 

Maybe Lily Potter wasn't a muggle-born.

 

Maybe she was actually a half-banshee or was actually Walburga's illegitimate daughter.

 

That shrieking is definitely not human!

 

"Swear to me, Tom! Swear as Tom Marvolo Riddle!" Harry ordered, "Swear as Marvolo Slytherin. Swear as every other aliases you have ever used! Swear as the bloody Dark Lord Voldemort that you will no-"

 

The sudden silence was heaven's gift.

 

Or did Voldemort finally become deaf?

 

A meek squeak from Harry disproved that idea. Voldemort stared at the gaping boy, staring at whatever was behind him with a pale face and big wide eyes.

 

Voldemort turned around and his own eyes widened when he noticed what had Harry so pale.

 

They both stared in front of them and Harry whispered meekly, "You put a silence charm and disillusion charms, right?"

 

"Yes, we should be completely invisible and silent... But with how inhumane you were shrieking, I will not be surprised if it didn't muffle any of your banshee screams." Voldemort replied, grabbing Harry's wand from the boy.

 

"Excuse me?! Did you just call me a banshee?!" Harry shrieked and Voldemort didn't bother to hide his groan as he smacked his forehead.

 

Even Orion wasn't stupid enough to call Walburga a banshee in her face.

 

"How dare you?! I AM NOT A BANSHEE!!!" Harry screamed and Voldemort wondered if producing howlers with Harry's shrieks can be weaponized?

  
"Oh yes. Banshees are nasty creatures. My Lord is more like a siren, Lord Slytherin."

 

Harry and Voldemort turned to stare back in front of them.

 

It wasn't just the Silence charm...

 

They were visible as well...

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I like mini-Walburga mode of Harry.  
> Some snippets of other (non-Slytherin) reaction to Harry. (mwuhahahaha)  
> And you guys probably have an idea who found them XD
> 
> PS: In case anyone is wondering, Barty will make an appearance two chapters from now... probably...


	6. Emotions versus Logic

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> More explanations which caused one to react and another to remember

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am amused by some of your guesses. XD
> 
> I will update the character tags later this week so I won't spoil the surprise XD
> 
> Thank you [ AsDarknessTakesOver](http://archiveofourown.org/users/AsDarknessTakesOver/pseuds/AsDarknessTakesOver) for telling me I mistook 'seat' and 'sit' ^w^
> 
> Warning for this chapter:  
> 1 unbeta'ed as usual  
> 2 use of a common plot device for a certain character (can't help it... guilty pleasure here~)  
> 3 Barty is a Ravenclaw graduate here because... meeehh... no real reason actually... (mostly because he apparently got 12 OWLs)  
> 4 Contains hints of how screwed up Harry's mentality is actually (kinda)

Voldemort aimed Harry's wand and ordered, "Don't do anything foolish and I might be merciful."

 

Harry scoffed and drawled, "Does that line ever work?"

 

"Oh, shut up, Potter. We wouldn't be in this mess if you hadn't decided to let out your inner banshee!" Voldemort hissed, glaring at Harry.

 

"I am not a banshee!" Harry shrieked, making Voldemort wince at his own stupidity.

 

"Banshees are nasty creatures. They definitely do not have My Lord's sweet voice."

 

"Are you insane?!" Voldemort turned to glare in front of him, "Did you not hear his shrieking?! Even Walburga's shrieking were not that inhumane!"

 

"HOW DARE YOU-" Harry stopped his shrieking which only made Voldemort look back at him in confusion.

 

Harry stared at in front of him and asked in a cool calm tone, "What did you call me?"

 

"My Lord."

 

Harry glanced at Voldemort before asking, "Why?"

 

"Because the Nargles told me you're My Lord and I will pledge my magic to you. Oh yes!" Both Voldemort and Harry took a step back when the young girl in front of them took out her wand. Voldemort raised Harry's wand towards the young blonde but the girl simply tilted her head at him. She raised her wand towards the ceiling and proclaimed, "I, Luna Lovegood, heir of the Lovegood house, hereby declare Harry James Potter, future Harry James Gaunt-Riddle Slytherin, future head of the Potter house and future Head Consort of the Slytherin line, as My Lord and as the Lord of my future descendants until time exist no more. So mote it be."

 

Harry blinked when a soft silver light envelop both him and the girl. The girl smiled dreamily and curtsied as she said, "My Lord."

 

Harry turned to look at Voldemort who shrugged and said, "Don't look at me. You're the one she pledged a loyalty oath to."

 

"Er... right..." Harry awkwardly walked towards the girl, "Luna... right?"

 

"Yes, My Lord." She replied in the same dreamy tone.

 

"So... how can you see us?" Harry asked, thinking their priority should be knowing why Voldemort's spells didn't work.

 

"Compulsory and mind magic never worked on me before, My Lord. Of course, your Invisibility Cloak does work on me for it is Death's robe and no one can see Death but its Master. That was the main reason why I could never find you before." Luna explained which only made Harry more confused.

 

Harry blinked and asked, "Does that mean Tom's spells should still be working?"

 

"Oh yes. Lord Slytherin's spells are very powerful. Not even the Light Lord's mind magic is this intense." Luna replied with a nod.

 

"Wait." Voldemort narrowed his eyes at Luna and asked, "Are you saying you can see magic?"

 

"I can see many things, future husband of My Lord." Luna replied, smiling dreamily as she added, "Your magic is so intense and very alluring. Of course, since Magic has deemed you as the descendant of one of Hogwarts' founders, rightful owner of Hogwarts herself now that the other three founders' lines are dead, Hogwarts has answered your calls and has lent you a hand in your spells. Not even the Light Lord would be able to see through your illusions right now."

 

"Oh? Is that so?"

 

Harry did not like the manic smirk Voldemort was currently sporting.

 

"Tom, don't do anything rash." Harry warned, glaring at him.

 

Voldemort glared at him and explained, "I can easily take down Dumbledore here in Hogwarts."

 

"Don't be crazy!" Harry shouted before shutting his mouth. He took a deep breath and calmly said, "This isn't the proper place to have such a discriminating conversation, disillusioned or not."

 

Harry stomped towards the window and grabbed his Invisibility cloak. He glared at Voldemort and walked towards him as he ordered, "You will follow us to the Chambers. If you leave us or try and find a way to go to Dumbledore without consulting me first, I will not marry you and I will make sure we will be both squibs before you can have Britain groveling at your feet. Do I make myself clear, Tom?"

 

Voldemort glared at him and took the cloak as he hissed, "You can't always threaten me with this bind, Potter."

 

"I would stop threatening you if you stop making unnecessary risk." Harry hissed back.

 

Voldemort sneered before throwing the Invisibility cloak over himself. Harry scoffed and drawled, "Very eloquent, future husband of mine."

 

Harry turned towards Luna and asked, "Am I still under his concealment spells?"

 

Luna nodded and Harry offered his hand to her as he ordered gently, "Come here."

 

Luna walked towards him and grabbed his offered hand, smiling the same dreamy smile she had the entire time. Harry awkwardly smiled as well before he turned to where Voldemort had disappeared and said, "Tom, you have my wand. Cast your paranoid concealment charms at her as well."

 

Voldemort pulled the hood off and hissed at Harry as he cast the charms at Luna, "I don't see why we can't just leave your new pet to fend for herself."

 

Harry glared at Voldemort and explained, "Because there's a chance people will see her go to the Chambers. We can't leave her alone in the Invisibility Cloak because you need to hide under it. Unless you want to hide with her under the cloak?"

 

"Of course not. She's your pet." Voldemort sneered and retorted, lowering his hand once he finished casting every spell, "Why don't we just leave her here? She doesn't need to go to the Chambers in the first place."

 

"She knows about you." Harry hissed in annoyance, "We can't leave her alone until we're sure she isn't a liability."

 

"We can just kill her." Voldemort suggested, narrowing his eyes when Harry pulled Luna behind him.

  
"She swore a loyalty oath to me." Harry reminded him with a low growl.

 

"You're becoming fond over a pup you just got, dear." Voldemort sneered.

 

"A pup that happens to see people's magic, love." Harry sneered back.

 

Luna simply stared dreamily at the two of them, seemingly not bothered by the death threats and degrading names. Harry continued to glare at Voldemort as he reasoned, "Her ability alone should make you second think that stupid suggestion of yours. Not to mention, she knew about our bind. She knows things."

 

"All the more reason why she is dangerous." Voldemort retorted and Harry narrowed his eyes further.

 

"All the more reason why we should find out what she knows." Harry hissed back, growling in frustration. Harry raised his hand and ordered, "Enough, Tom! We're going to bring Luna to the Chambers then we'll talk about what to do next. That's final! We are too out in the open for this conversation! Now shut up, cover your face and follow us to the Chambers!"

 

Voldemort glared at him for a few seconds which Harry challenged by glaring back. With a frustrated hiss, Voldemort pulled his hood back and disappeared from their peripheral vision. Harry sighed tiredly and rubbed the bridge of his nose. Luna rubbed Harry's back in a comforting manner as she commented in the same dreamy tone, "Your Plan 'Whipped' is progressing quite nicely, My Lord."

 

Harry turned to stare at Luna while they heard Voldemort growl somewhere near them. Harry opened his mouth to ask but shook his head. Instead he placed the Marauder's Map on Luna's hands and ordered, "Focus on that map. Tell me if anyone is approaching us. Also tell me if Tom starts walking away from us."

 

"Yes, My Lord." Luna nodded happily, staring at the map with the same dreamy expression she had the entire time.

 

"Your trust in me is endearing, my dear." Voldemort drawled from somewhere behind them.

 

Harry rolled his eyes and retorted, "Shut up now, love tart."

 

Luna linked her arm around Harry's arm and held the map with her two hands. Taking this as his cue to start leading Luna to the Chambers, Harry began walking, mentally mapping the shortest route they can take to go to the Chambers.

As Harry led Luna through the secret passages littering Hogwarts, he finally asked, "So... why are you barefooted?"

 

"Hm? Oh, the Wrackspurts whispered to some people's ear to take my shoes." Luna replied in the same dreamy tone, "Don't worry, My Lord. They will turn up sooner or later. Perhaps they're in one of the bathrooms near my house's tower."

 

Harry glanced at Luna's tie and asked, "Ravenclaw?”

 

"Yes, My Lord. Just like one of Lord Slytherin's favorite dog." Luna mused with a smile, "He just finished his last class for today as well. He seems to be on his way to his personal quarters. Perhaps he's waiting for Lord Slytherin to come?"

 

Harry had to think about those words for a few seconds before he realized, "You know about Barty?"

 

"Oh yes." Luna pointed at the map where the dot named 'Bartemius Crouch' was moving towards the Defense Against Dark Arts professor's personal quarters, "See?"

 

"How do..." Harry shook his head and said instead, "You have a lot of explaining to do once we reach the Chambers."

 

Luna smiled dreamily and replied, "I will do my best to answer all of your questions, My Lord."

 

Harry led Luna to the bathroom, checking if Moaning Myrtle was there. Once he knew it was clear, he hissed, "<<Open.>>"

 

The sink parted, revealing the abyss that connects Hogwarts to the Chambers. Harry looked down and ordered, "<<Stairs.>>"

 

A glass staircase appeared and they began walking down. Luna folded the map and took out her wand, whispering a soft "Lumos". The small light illuminated their way down. While they were in the middle of the staircase, Harry heard Voldemort order "<<Close.>>" and the sink returned to its previous position. Voldemort removed the Invisibility Cloak, folding it, and followed the two towards the Chambers.

 

They walked to the main chamber where Voldemort frowned at the carcass of the Basilisk, preserved by the magic inside the Chambers. He handed the cloak to Harry and called out, "Dobby!”

 

The house-elf popped and bowed at Voldemort as he asked, "How can Dobby be of service to My Lord?"

  
"Are you doing anything for Hogwarts at the moment?" Voldemort asked, staring at the Basilisk.

 

"Yes, My Lord. Dobby is preparing dinner together with other house-elves." Dobby replied, frightened that he might have angered Voldemort for being busy.

 

"Very well. Once your duties for Hogwarts are over, dissect this Basilisk. Separate the meat, the bones and the skin into different containers and preserve each magically." Voldemort ordered then asked, "Do you know where to find containers to fit all of these?"

 

Dobby nodded and replied, "Yes, My Lord. Dobby knows where to find containers. Dobby will do it afterwards."

 

"Thank you, Dobby." Voldemort nodded and turned to look at Harry and Luna who were both observing him, "You owe me a basilisk."

 

Harry rolled his eyes and retorted, "And you owe me a father and a mother."

 

Voldemort couldn't help but be surprised by Harry's deadpan reply. Harry simply raised an eyebrow, silently daring Voldemort to retort that statement. Voldemort sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose as he said, "We'll have your conversation-"

 

Harry rolled his eyes once more at how Voldemort spat the word but remained quiet as Voldemort continued, "-in Salazar's study. Come."

 

Harry and Luna followed Voldemort towards Salazar's open mouth while Dobby disappeared with a pop, most probably to return to preparing food. Voldemort led them to one of the many room beyond the mouth of Salazar.

 

It was one of the earliest rooms Harry found actually. It was a small study with a comforting light. There was a bookcase on one end filled with books of different subjects, most of them were seemingly old textbooks for the Hogwarts curriculum.

 

At the middle of the room was an office chair and desk. Two comfortable chairs facing the desk were on the other side of the office table. Voldemort sat at the office chair and waved his hands towards the other two seats. Harry took the one at the left, slouching as he glared at Voldemort. Luna sat on the other seat, glancing all over the room. Voldemort leaned back as well and stared at Harry as he asked, "Well? What now?"

 

"Before anything else, I want my oath, Tom." Harry demanded, glaring at Voldemort as he hissed, "Swear to me you'll stabilize Magical Britain before playing with a new toy."

 

Voldemort sighed and raised Harry's wand as he proclaimed, "I, Marvolo Slytherin, swear upon my magic to not conquer other Magical countries once Magical Britain is under my rule until my future consort, Harry James Potter, future Harry James Riddle-Gaunt Slytherin, gives me his permission. So mote it be."

 

Warm light envelop both Voldemort and Harry for a moment then Voldemort sneered, "Happy, my dear?"

 

Harry hummed and replied, "A bit, I suppose. Thank you, love tart."

 

Voldemort rolled his eyes before glancing at Luna, "And what shall we do about your new... pup?"

 

Harry hummed once more, thinking over it, before turning to look at Luna and asking, "What do you know about me and Tom?"

 

"Only what the Nargles tell me, My Lord." Luna took a moment to stare at the ceiling, seemingly thinking of what she should say before nodding and staring at Harry as she explained, "I know that I am to pledge my loyalty to you. The Nargles tell me I am to be your..."

 

Luna tilted her head and ended her sentence with a question, "... Bella?"

 

Harry turned to stare at Voldemort who raised an eyebrow. Noticing Harry's stare, he commented, "While my Bella may be insane, this girl's insanity seems like a different type."

 

"Oh, that's because I'm loony. Loony Luna, they call me." Luna said with a small smile.

 

"Who calls you that?" Harry frowned as he stared back at Luna.

 

Luna shrugged and replied, "Everyone I know. My fellow ravens were first but everyone calls me that now."

 

Harry narrowed his eyes and asked, "Luna... are you being bullied?"

 

Luna stared at Harry for a second before smiling softly, "It's quite alright, My Lord. I'm used to it. They simply have their minds infested by Wrackspurts."

 

Harry did not like the sound of that...

 

Voldemort glanced at Luna's legs before asking, "These... Wrackspurts? Did they order your fellow housemates to take your shoes?"

 

Luna nodded as she explained, "Oh yes. Wrackspurts infested their mind and made them hide my shoes. And my notes as well at times."

 

"Did these... Wrackspurts also infest the mind of the entire school to make Harry's life difficult? Perhaps... after his name was taken from the cup?" Voldemort asked and Harry frowned when Luna nodded.

 

"Yes, those nasty Wrackspurts also made fun of My Lord." Luna replied, frowning slightly.

 

Voldemort glanced at Harry and Harry froze when Voldemort forced a sentence in his mind.

 

_Wrackspurt is an imaginary creature created by this girl to justify the actions of those bullying you and her._

  
This was the first time Voldemort had created a sentence to send to him. The most direct message he had sent him before were the answers to Snape's questions back in Potion's class. Other times, he would simply share already made memories or a snippet of his emotions.

 

Just... how close were their minds link?

 

Instead of mulling over that topic, Harry gripped the fabric of his robes tightly before asking the young girl, "And the Nargles? What are Nargles, Luna?"

 

"Nargles whisper to me. Sometimes they whisper where I can find my shoes. Other times they whisper secrets. They also whispers about what will happen." Luna explained, smiling softly at Harry as she continued, "They whispered I was to be your handmaiden. It was to be my duty to whisper to you what the Nargles has whispered to me and what the Nargles will whisper to me."

 

"And what have this... Nargles whispered to you pertaining to us?" Voldemort asked.

 

"They whispered My Lord and Lord Slytherin are to marry the traditional magical way. I am to be My Lord's ring bearer during the ceremony. They say you would give me a pretty dress." Luna slightly tilted her head, smiling sweetly, as she continued, "They say your first child will be a boy and he will be loved by his parents and godparents. I am to help My Lord in taking care of your child while Lord Slytherin is busy taking care of our country."

 

Harry and Voldemort turned to look at one another and Harry pushed one word through their mental link: _'seer?'_

 

"Oh! They also told me Lord Slytherin will spend a week on the couch once you married." Luna added cheerfully.

 

Harry grinned as he said to Voldemort, "She's definitely a seer."

 

Voldemort rolled his eyes before asking Luna, "Has these Nargles tell you anything else?"

 

"Hhhmm." Luna stared at the floor for a few second before replying, "They did say that you two must marry the night of Yule, no matter what."

 

"That's a given." Voldemort retorted and Harry rolled his eyes at the condescending tone his fiance had.

 

Luna stared at Voldemort, seemingly contemplating something. She sighed and said softly, "the Nargles told me something but... I don't think My Lord would be happy if I tell you."

 

Voldemort narrowed his eyes and Harry turned to stare at Luna, "What did the Nargles say?"

 

Luna glanced at Harry, fidgeting slightly. Harry nodded and whispered, "It's okay, Luna. You can tell us."

 

Luna nodded and stared at Voldemort as she whispered, "The headmaster keeps your diary inside the 'Conspiracy Theories of the First Goblin War' book on the bookcase in the headmaster's office."

 

Harry immediately stood when Voldemort stood and ordered, "Don't go, Tom!"

 

"That diary is mine!" Voldemort hissed and began walking out of the room.

 

"Damn it, Tom, stop walking and go back to your sit!" Harry ordered, not moving at all, "I'm not going out of this room until we talk about this!"

 

Voldemort turned and sneered at Harry, "Are you going to ask me to share my feelings, my dear Harry?"

 

"Feelings? You have feelings?" Harry drawled with a roll of his eyes, "No, you over dramatic prat. We're going to discuss about our next course of action. Now sit your bloody arse back down!"

 

Voldemort glared at him and Harry simply glared back. After a minute of silent glaring at one another, Voldemort finally returned to his seat. They both sat and Harry leaned back as he commented, “It's too risky to take the diary now.”

 

“I must have that diary.” Voldemort stubbornly said.

 

Harry was starting to get annoyed by Voldemort's childish insistence to get a bloody diary.

 

“And you will but not now, not yet.” Harry hissed back, narrowing his eyes at Voldemort, “We're in the middle of enemy territory, Tom. A single mistake and it's all over. We can get your diary a day before we leave for Yule break. That way, even if Dumbledore finds out, we'll be long gone. This is also the same reason why you can't kill Dumbledore simply because you want to.”

 

“And why is that, Harry?” Voldemort spatted his name in a mocking tune.

 

“Because you'll make him a martyr if you kill him now. Instead of demoralizing the Light, you'll just spur them into a fanatic frenzy that would do anything just to take you down.” Harry explained, glaring at Voldemort, “Not to mention, you are being overly emotional just for a diary.”

 

“You don't understand-”

 

“Then explain it to me in words a foolish boy like me could.” Harry angrily hissed. Voldemort glanced at Luna quickly before glaring at Harry. Harry turned towards the silent blonde who looked a bit upset and asked softly, “Luna, could you please wait outside? Tom and I need to talk privately.”

 

Luna bit her bottom lip and stared at Harry worriedly for a moment before blinking. Her lips parted slightly and her eyes became more vacant. The change only stayed for a second before her expression became the same dreamy look she seem to usually have. She nodded and smiled softly at Harry as she said, “As My Lord commands.”

 

She jumped off her seat and skipped out of the room, closing the door behind her quietly. The two remaining occupants in the room waited for a few seconds silently before Harry said, “Talk to me, Tom.”

 

Voldemort kept quiet as he stared at Harry with a frown decorating his face. Harry continued to stare at him with the same annoyed expression in his face. The silence stretched for a few minutes before Voldemort finally admitted, “<<That diary had a piece of my soul.>>”

 

Speaking in Parseltongue for more privacy only made Harry think Voldemort was being too paranoid but that thought was easily pushed away by what Voldemort had said. Harry blinked for a couple of seconds before replying dumbly, “<<Huh?>>”

 

“<<My diary... has a piece of my soul... in it.>>” Voldemort repeated through gritted teeth, “<<I wish to see if my soul is still in it even if you had stabbed it with a Basilisk fang, .>>

 

Harry frowned and asked, “<<And if it isn't? What does that mean?>>”

 

“<<I...>>” Voldemort covered his mouth loosely with his hand, staring at the table in front of him. It took a few seconds before he finally admitted, “<<I... don't know...>>”

 

Harry rubbed his forehead, his fingers grazing over the lightning bolt scar subconsciously, as he tried to reason, “<<I'm not going to pretend to understand what you're going through. You put a piece of your soul in a diary, for Merlin's sake! But you can't just throw everything out of the window because you need to know what happened to the soul in it! If your soul is no longer there because I stabbed it with a Basilisk fang, you should have already felt or known the repercussion by now. If your soul is still there then it's going to be still there because Dumbledore has had that diary for the past two years and haven't done anything to it->>”

 

“<<How would you know->>” Voldemort cut him off with a sneer that Harry simply interrupted with an annoyed clip tone.

 

“<<Because you have not yet felt any repercussion, right?>>” Harry raised an eyebrow as a silent challenge for Voldemort to deny his conclusion. Voldemort leaned back on his chair and glared at Harry while the younger wizard simply continued, “<<Regardless if Dumbledore had done something to your diary or not, the fact is you're still alright and have not felt any kind of negative feelings that cannot be explained. The diary will be safe for now and we can take it out before we leave for Yule.>>”

 

“<<The longer the diary is with Dumbledore, the greater the risk.>>” Voldemort retorted with gritted teeth and Harry noticed that Voldemort was being cryptic.

 

He was hiding something.

 

Harry noticed Voldemort's point finger flinch after Harry's thought. Harry sighed tiredly and closed his eyes as he drawled, “<<Relax, Tom. I'm not going to ask you what you're hiding.>>”

 

Voldemort stared at Harry with a surprised look on his face which went unnoticed by the younger wizard because he kept his eyes close. Harry relaxed on his sit as he mused, “<<I know you're going to hide a lot of things from me, the same way I'm hiding a lot of things from you by not thinking about them. They're your secrets to share if you want to, I'm not going to be nosy about them.>>”

 

“<<You are being awfully understanding about it.>>” Voldemort commented as he finally replaced his surprise with a look of indifference.

 

Harry opened his eyes and stared at Voldemort as he smiled sardonically, “<<Don't mistake understanding for not caring, Tom. Frankly, I do not care if you keep secrets for me as long they will not harm me, directly or indirectly. Will not knowing everything about your diary with a piece of your soul harm me in any way?>>”

 

Voldemort frowned as he admitted, “<<As far I know, no, it will not.>>”

 

“<<Then keep your secret.>>” Harry waved his hand dismissively before stubbornly saying, “<<But we will not risk going to Dumbledore's office right now. We will wait until it's the day or the night before we leave for Yule break. That has the least risk of getting caught while we're still in Hogwarts.>>”

 

Voldemort glared at him and asked bitterly, “<<How can someone as young as you see things in the most rational way?>>”

 

Harry shrugged and replied nonchalantly, “<<I don't care about most things and the things I care about do not have much sway over my decisions. I make decisions based on my thoughts, not my emotions. You have sentimental values over your diary and... fear, I assume, over the possibility of your diary's fate in the hands of Dumbledore.>>”

 

Harry played with the fabric of his robes as he admitted, “<<Your diary has been... a companion of mine for a few weeks but its sentimental values to me are irrelevant. I will prioritize our survival above all else.>>”

 

Harry's lips curved into a bitter smile as he said to Voldemort, “<<I may not be as powerful or as experienced as you, Tom, but I am probably more inhumane than you. You're still ruled by your emotions and quick to anger. I can see now why you enjoy throwing Crucio like it's water on a beach. All that repressed rage and hate? You might need a new outlet for that, dear. I, on the other hand, am emotional detached to everything and all of the stupidity I have done were deemed necessary to play the part of the Boy-Who-Lived. Of course, I have had my idiot moments but they're very few and they always happened because I get caught up in the flow or I let my emotions control my actions. That's why I know letting you try to get the diary while we're here for a long period of time would be foolish. You're getting caught up in the flow and I know I have to drag you away.>>”

 

Harry stood and said, “<<We should just stick to our original plan and meet with your dear Barty. His help will be much appreciated for the following weeks.>>”

 

Voldemort remained quiet and Harry sighed as he said in English, “I'll wait for you outside with Luna.”

 

Harry grabbed the hand Voldemort had been using to cover his mouth and gently pulled it away from the frown decorating Voldemort's face. Harry squeezed Voldemort's hand softly and said, “Please, Tom, don't make our lives unnecessarily more difficult than it already is.”

 

The physical contact was unnecessary but Harry felt like he should do it. He didn't understand why though...

 

Harry let go of Voldemort's hand and quietly left the study. He saw Luna sitting on the cold floor right next to the door as he closed the door behind him. Luna smiled softly at him and said, “It's alright to miss him, My Lord.”

 

Harry leaned on the wall next to the door and stared down at the young Ravenclaw as he asked, “Did the Nargles told you about him as well?”

 

“They did.” Luna replied with a nod and played with her (... were those Butterbeer caps?) necklace as she said in the same soft sagely tone, “It's quite alright to miss him. He had been the first person you have shown who you really are.”

 

Harry's lips curved to a bitter smile as he corrected, “I didn't show him who I really was. He just saw snippets of who I really am.”

 

Luna tilted her head to the side as she asked, “Does it matter if he has seen 10 percent or 50 percent of the real Harry? Either way, he had been the only one who had... before Lord Slytherin.”

 

“It doesn't matter either way.” Harry replied, rubbing his forearm as he reminded her (and himself), “Missing Tom... missing his diary is irrelevant and unnecessary to our situation right now. There's nothing we can do about our past mistakes.”

 

“And he's right beside you now, isn't he?” Luna added with a smile as she slowly got up.

 

Harry's lips curved into a small smile and he opened his mouth but stopped before he could say anything when he heard the door open. Harry turned around and Voldemort stepped out of the room. He didn't glance at both of them as he announced, “Let's go. We have a meeting with one of my dogs to get to.”

 

Harry grinned and nodded, silently following Voldemort.

 

Luna stared at the two of them for a second before following them, humming a soft sad song under her breath.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter, we are going to meet Barty (FINALLY)
> 
> I hope Luna becoming Harry's handmaiden is alright. Seriously, guilty pleasure over here XD
> 
> Harry's closeness with diary!Tom is... kinda shown in the sidestory [ “Musing of a Diary Hocrux” ](http://archiveofourown.org/works/4426181). It's not such a deep closeness but the diary had been the first person who ever saw the real Harry for long periods of time so Harry's emotional attachment to the diary is quite deep... deeper than what Harry is actually showing (dun, dun, DUN). I think there would be more 'scenes' of Harry musing about the diary as we go along this fic. ^w^()
> 
> PS: I uploaded a side-story called Family Visit (click the next arrow on the Series tag or just [ click me ](http://archiveofourown.org/works/4533741)) which is set waaaayyyyyyyyyy into the future and Voldemort and Harry already have two kids.


	7. The Breakdown of Bartemius Crouch Junior

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The chapter title pretty much summarizes it

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Before anything else. I also uploaded 2 (yes, that's right, 2!) side-stories for CaRB because you guys ask nicely for a sequel with [ Mini-Mort vs Magical Girls](http://archiveofourown.org/works/4586493) (which is freaking long, like... it's freaking looonnngg) and AsDarknessTakesOver asks for a continuation of the [Potion Class' fantasy](http://archiveofourown.org/works/4586592) so yeeaaahhh... I'm that nice. (no, really, I am... kinda... XD)
> 
> Warning for this chapter:  
> 1 unbeta'ed as usual  
> 2 Harry is a sadistic menace  
> 3 Er... slight Ron bashing? Kinda?

"Professor Moody!" Harry called out, running to catch him with the ex-Auror (or, at least, a Death Eater impersonating an ex-Auror). Luna casually strolled behind him, playing with her necklace made of Butterbeer caps. She stopped a few feet away from them, swaying lightly as she looked at the ceiling with wondering eyes.

  
The man wearing Moody's face glanced at the younger Ravenclaw for a brief moment before turning his gaze towards the small Gryffindor currently smiling at him, "What is it, Potter? Shouldn't you be eating dinner by now?"

  
"Ah, I never enjoyed eating with other people. Having to eat in the presence of one Ronald Weasley certainly helps in losing your appetite which is a bit weird because none of the other Weasleys pig out like him. Although, I have notice all of them tend to hog a lot of food into their plate but, at least, Percy and Ginny attempt to not pig out. The twins aren't as bad as Ron too. Not to mention, the entire student body stare at me like I'm an escapee from Azkaban which is kinda ironic 'cause that's actually my godfather who got framed by a rat who nobody really liked which actually begs the question why he became friends with my father and his gang in the first place. Sure, a werewolf also doesn't make that much se-"

  
"Potter!" The older wizard barked, glaring at Harry, "I did not ask for a history lesson nor your observation over the eating habits of the Weasley family. I asked you why you're here."

  
Harry's lips curved into the malicious smirk he has seen Voldemort make whenever he was about to Crucio some poor Death Eater (who happened to be Snape in Harry's experience due to Potion class). His smirk widened when he heard the older man's sharp intake of breath. He felt Voldemort's amusement through their link but paid it no heed as he caressed his professor's left forearm. He felt a pleasant shiver course through his entire body, the Dark magic emitting from the hidden Mark had gave him a flow of soothing magic. It was quite similar to Voldemort's own magical aura which he usually hides, a kind of pleasing and intoxicating allure that tries to force Harry to submit.

  
  


He never recognized it from Snape though. Then again, it was only at this moment, as he was holding his professor's forearm, that he could feel the allure of Voldemort's magic.

  
  


Perhaps he can only feel it if he touched the Mark?

  
  


He recognized it as the same allure he felt towards Quirrel from his first year but Quirrel had a deluded and corrupted feel to the aura which made Harry's scar ache. Whether it was because Voldemort was weak then or it was because of Quirrel's mediocre magic, Harry didn't really found out.

  
  


The first time he really felt the tug was during his second year. At first, he felt a slight tug with Ginny and he had wondered if he was attracted to the youngest Weasley. He wasn't exactly thrilled by that idea nor was he repulsed by it. Harry found Ginny to be quite cute and her personality was not too bad. The whole starstruck look she usually had for Harry was amusing to him. The Valentine Singing incident was not amusing though...

  
  


He had considered it a problem if he was developing emotional attachment to Ginny though. Ginny was a Light witch and was firmly on Dumbledore's side like the rest of her family. His plan, if it turned out he was attracted to Ginny, was to sway her to his side (whatever side that was... alone or in Voldemort's side) and manipulate her feelings for him.

  
  


Harry was really counting on the whole 'love makes you crazy' and all that jazz...

  
  


His plan didn't come into fruition since he found out the tug he felt from Ginny was the residual magic Voldemort's diary had. The diary itself was soaked with the allure of Voldemort's Dark magic, intoxicating Harry to trust and confide in the Tom Riddle inside the diary.

  
  


That allure was actually the main reason why Harry wanted to keep Tom Riddle.

  
  


Oh...

  
  


Did he just think 'keep Tom Riddle'?

  
  


For some reason, that phrase conjured an image of a sixteen years old Tom Riddle with a collar, kneeling in front of Harry.

  
  


Annnnddddd he just felt Voldemort's surprise in their link.

  
  


He cleared his mind and hissed as he gripped his professor's forearm tightly, making sure to imitate Voldemort's snake-like speech by drawling the 's' and speaking with a low tone which he seemed to use when he was speaking to his followers (for reasons Harry didn't really understand), "How disappointing. I would have expected you as one of my most favored to know I do not like to be interrupted..."

  
Harry tilted his head as he drawled, "Baaartyyy..."

  
“<<Burn>>” Harry chanted in Parseltongue as he gripped his professor's forearm tightly, forcing his magic onto the Mark which began to warm against his touch. The older wizard's real eye twitched and his left arm began to tremble. Harry stepped closer and hissed, "It will be to our best... interest... if we continue this conversation inside, Barty."

  
His professor grimaced and took a step back but Harry kept his grip on his forearm. He walked towards the door leading to his personal quarters and hissed the password through gritted teeth as Harry felt the mark began burning against his touch, "Fortune favors the brave."

  
Harry heard the mechanism of the door begin to unlock, reminding him of the vault door in Gringotts. He turned to look at Luna and jerked his head towards the door. Luna nodded and smiled at him, quietly following the two inside Moody's room.

  
All four of them (Voldemort still hidden by Harry's Invisibility Cloak) walked inside and the door automatically closed and locked behind Luna. He felt Voldemort cast silencing and privacy charms through their link and Harry waited, asking the trembling man in front of him in a mimicry of Voldemort's hissing tone, "Have you done as your lord has ordered, Barty? I'm sure my house-elf had made it clear to strengthen the privacy and silencing charms in your quarters."

  
"P-P-Potter. I don't know what game you're playing-"

  
"You test my patience, Barty." Harry hissed as he narrowed his eyes, internally wishing he knew how to cast a glamour to make his eyes red. That would have made this whole thing more amusing. Harry tightened his grip on his professor's forearm as he hissed in Parseltongue, "<<Break>>"

  
The older man let out a pained howl and Harry's malicious grin turned more sadistic as he heard the telltale sound of bones breaking. His professor dropped to his knees, panting heavily as sweat began to form on his forehead while the burning of his arm began to rise dangerously, nearing the same temperature Harry had burned his hand on the stove when he had been young. Harry used his free hand to caress his professor's cheek as he hissed, "<<Reveal Your True Self>>"

  
The older man's skin began moving strangely, honestly making Harry think there were worms underneath the skin. He let out a loud scream and Harry wondered if it was because of the spell to forcibly return his features to its original form or if it was because the heat erupting from the mark had reached the same burning temperature Harry had felt before. The only reason why he has yet to let go was because of his high pain tolerance.

  
His transformation lasted for three seconds and Harry was amused that he was able to continue screaming for that full three seconds. Instead of the aging paranoid wizard Harry had gotten used to, he was now facing a wizard who was most probably at his middle thirties. Dirty and messy blond hair framed his pale skin and wide brown eyes stared at Harry with a mixture of fear and reverence.

  
Harry found himself enjoying the mixture of emotions directed at him.

  
"Hello, Barty." Harry greeted with a sadistic smile, caressing the Death Eater's cheek with his thumb.

  
  


He was really enjoying Parselmagic. He had been a bit distrusting when Voldemort had taught him how focusing his magic while speaking in Parseltongue could create unknown spells (it seemed like it's too good to be true). It seemed that as long as he thought clearly and used appropriate words spoken in Parseltongue, the ideas of spells Harry could make became endless. According to Voldemort, the words could be based on any other language but must be said in Parseltongue to work. Voldemort was more used to using Latin as his base language but they soon found out Harry had better control over Parselmagic if he used English as his base.

  
"M-my... lord...?" Barty asked, flicking his tongue against his bottom lip quickly.

  
Harry raised an eyebrow out of amusement before he heard Voldemort hiss, "Crucio."

  
Harry let go of Barty immediately as the red light of the Cruciatus curse hit him on the back. Barty fell on the floor, screaming loudly as he began to writhe. The Crucio only lasted for ten seconds and Harry's breath hitched when Voldemort suddenly grabbed his wrist, pulling him towards the older wizard till their chest bumped against one another. Harry raised an eyebrow and whispered, "I hope that curse didn't trip the wards."

  
"You burned your hand, you foolish child." Voldemort hissed, tightening his grip on the wrist of Harry's burned hand.

  
  


… Harry supposed he should take that as Voldemort's way of saying 'yes, the wards did not trip'.

  
Harry blinked owlishly at him for a few seconds before turning his gaze towards his hand. The palm of his hand was red and slightly burned. The middle of his palm already had a blister in the shape of what Harry assumed to be a part of the Mark. Harry simply blinked at it and uttered a baffled "Huh."

  
"You've just caused yourself a second degree burn and all you utter is a 'huh'?!" Voldemort sneered, glaring at Harry. Harry shrugged and pulled his hand away.

  
Voldemort glared at him as Harry jumped on the desk, disrupting the stacks of parchment on one side. He stared at his burned hand and said dismissively, "I have high pain tolerance. I've had worse."

  
Harry jerked his chin towards Barty who was gasping for breath as he laid on the floor and asked, "Shouldn't you be more worried about your poor tortured Death Eater?"

  
Voldemort took a few steps towards Barty and hissed, "Barty..."

  
"My Lord..." Barty gasped for air before murmuring, "Forgive me for my insolence and my-"

  
"Enough." Voldemort ordered with narrowed eyes, "My patience grows thin, Barty. I do hope you have burn salve here or I might just remind you who taught Bella how to use Crucio at its fullest."

  
Harry raised an eyebrow and teased, "Careful, Tom. You're starting to sound like you care."

  
  


"Apparently, one of us has to considering how little you value your health even though you supposedly prioritize your survival above all else." Voldemort retorted, glaring at Harry.

  
  


Harry rolled his eyes but remained silent.

  
  


It seemed like such a chore to try and explain to the evil Dark Lord that a burn like this was treatable and was not life-threatening, especially to Harry's high healing capabilities.

  
"Third cabinet... second row..." Barty gulped before continuing, "Red bottle..."

  
Voldemort turned to face the cabinet... only to see Luna already walking towards Harry with said red bottle. Voldemort growled lowly and glared at the smiling girl who simply uncapped the bottle and dipped her point and middle finger inside. Harry noticed his glare and grinned cheekily, "Would the big bad Dark Lord like to rub my boo-boo away?"

  
Voldemort flicked Harry's wand and aimed a stinging hex towards the cheeky Gryffindor. Harry's grin grew when the hex simply dissolved before reaching his leg and he drawled, "Remember, Tom. You can't hurt me anymore."  
  
  


Luna giggled and offered the red bottle to Voldemort. She titled her head to the side, reminding the Dark Lord of her Lord, and asked with a dreamy smile, "Would you like to rub My Lord's boo-boos away, Lord Slytherin?"

  
Voldemort sneered at her which only made Harry stifle a chuckle while Luna continued to smile at him. Voldemort turned to face Barty and ordered in an annoyed clip tone, "Rise, Barty."

  
Barty's entire form trembled but he forced himself up, gasping for breath. It was a good thing the bone breaking Parseltongue-based curse he had taught Harry was only temporary. He knelt in front of Voldemort, head bowed down in submission, as he whispered reverently, "My Lord."

  
"I assume you have received my letter?" Voldemort asked, caressing Harry's wand unconsciously. Harry's Holly wand did not feel as comfortable as his own Yew wand but there was a sense of familiarity and security radiating from the wand.

  
"Tom dear, can you not touch my wand like that?" Harry asked before grinning cheekily as he commented, "Oh, that sounded so wrong..."

  
Voldemort simply rolled his eyes and didn't bother to reply him. Harry snorted when Voldemort blatantly continued to caress his wand. Harry watched the two of them as Luna rubbed the burn salve on his palm. The gel was cool against his irritated skin but Harry couldn't help but scrunched his nose at the smell. Barty kept his head down as he replied enthusiastically although he was glancing at Harry with a confused but slightly interested look, "Yes, My Lord. I've finished writing the drafts as instructed in the letter."

  
"Bring them to me." Voldemort ordered, walking towards the work desk. He glared at Harry who was still sitting on the desk.

  
Harry raised an eyebrow and asked nonchalantly, "Letters?"

  
"Legal letters which needs to be sent to Gringotts and a letter for Wormtail." Voldemort briefly explained, sitting on the chair. Barty took out five rolled pieces of parchments from his jacket and walked towards the desk. He stopped in front of Harry and awkwardly shuffled, unsure if he should hand the parchments over to Harry or to walk around the desk to hand it directly to Voldemort. Harry simply grinned at Barty's indecisiveness while Voldemort growled in annoyance, smacking Harry on the back.

  
Harry leaned back and arched his back, staring at Voldemort upside down as he cheekily grinned, "That's called domestic abuse, love tart."

  
  


Barty choked on his own spit at Harry's term of endearment.

  
"Considering your high pain tolerance, we can argue it as simply a love tap, dear." Voldemort drawled without missing a beat.

  
Barty made a squeaky sound that Harry supposed sounded similar to 'love tap'.

  
Luna turned to smile dreamily at Voldemort and commented, "The Nargles would like to comment that it could also be considered as BDSM."

  
Barty's eyes widened and his jaw slacked.

  
Voldemort rolled his eyes and deadpanned, "Tell the Nargles that a single slap doesn't count as BDSM."

  
Harry sat up straight and asked Barty with a grin, "How many slaps does your lord need to do for it to be counted as BDSM?"

  
Barty could only make an incoherent squeaky sound at Harry's question.

  
Harry grinned and grabbed the parchments from Barty's hands as he said in a singsong tone, "Sweetie, I think I broke your Death Eater."

  
Voldemort rolled his eyes and deadpanned, "Fix him or you owe me a Death Eater."

  
Harry grinned and turned his upper body to face Voldemort before asking playfully, "Trade him for Luna?"

  
Voldemort glanced at the young Ravenclaw who simply smiled dreamily at him. Voldemort placed his hand in front of him, palm up, as he deadpanned, "Rejected. Your pup is too nice looking to be a Death Eater."

  
Luna pouted and Harry raised an eyebrow as he handed the parchments to Voldemort while commenting, "My pup can look fierce."

  
Voldemort placed the parchments on the table before unrolling one, his eyes trained at Harry and Luna. Harry lightly tapped Luna's left shoulder and ordered, "Luna, fierce look."

  
Luna narrowed her eyes and sneered at Voldemort. Harry beamed proudly while Voldemort raised an eyebrow at their antics. Voldemort sighed and shook his head, lowering his head to stare at the unrolled parchment in his hands, "No. Fix my Death Eater, darling."

  
Luna pouted and Harry clicked his tongue, placing his hands on Luna's cheeks as he dramatically said, "Don't listen to him, my dear. You looked fabulous. He's just an uptight Dark Lord."

  
"Forgive me for not wanting an obvious jail-bait as one of my Death Eaters." Voldemort drawled, not bothering to look up from what he was reading.

  
Harry snorted before he rolled his eyes as he retorted, "Considering you're marrying a fourteen years old boy on Yule night, I think having a jail-bait Death Eater would be the least of your problems."

  
Harry grinned as he added, "Cradle robber."

  
  


Barty looked ready to faint any moment now.

  
"Calling me a Cradle Robber would have made more sense back in your first year. Do not make me test the limits of my incapability to hurt you, my dear." Voldemort warned before he poked Harry with his own wand at the back as he ordered, "Make yourself useful and explain to Barty what's happening."

  
Harry scrunched his nose and commented, "Oh Merlin. The image of you trying to bad-touch me when I was eleven and you were a parasite on Quirrel's head is just disturbing, even by my standards."

  
Luna gave a dreamy grin as she added, "Or kinky."

  
"Luna love..." Harry patted Luna's cheek gently as he said, "Your Nargles are poisoning your mind. I mean... wouldn't that count more as Quirrel touching me than Tom? Remember, he was just a parasite on Quirre-"

  
"Harry..." Voldemort called out in a warning tone which only made Harry roll his eyes.

  
"Oh, fine. I suppose I can be useful to you, my love tart." Harry drawled as he shrugged. He grinned at Barty and patted the frozen Death Eater's cheeks lightly as he teased, "Look alive, Barty. Remember what you told me? Constant vigilance and all that rubbish."

  
"Wha-how-wh-why?!" Barty managed to squeak out, staring at Harry with big wide eyes that reminded Harry of Hedwig.

  
"I summoned Tom by mistake yesterday and we're bound to one another because Salazar Slytherin couldn't find the time to write clearer descriptions about his rituals so it's totally not my fault." Voldemort snorted at that but Harry paid no attention to him as he continued.

  
"Because of this bind, your dear lord and I are now required to get married the traditional magical way because Mr. Dark Lord over here does not want to become a squib and this bind is too much of a hassle to not take off. What else..." Harry turned his gaze to the ceiling and mused, "Tom bound Dobby to him so we can have a House-elf and spy here in Hogwarts. We're planning on getting married at Yule night. Oh! And, apparently, I need to bear your uptight Dark Lord an heir because I'm obviously the male seahorse in this relationship."

  
"Which I've been meaning to ask..." Harry turned to look at Voldemort and asked, "Is there anything we need to prepare to... make conception easier? Like a ritual or potion or something?"

  
Voldemort turned his gaze to Harry and raised an eyebrow. Harry shrugged and explained, "Just wondering. I mean, is it like the muggle way where we just shag until we hit jackpot?"

  
Barty made another squeaking sound which Harry supposed was a squirrel trying to say 'shag'. Luna smiled dreamily at Harry and suggested, "I can ask my father to send books and pamphlets about male pregnancy. Father has a lot of connections."

  
"You do that." Voldemort replied for Harry and returned his gaze back to the paper in his hand, taking a quill and writing something on the parchment. He didn't bother to raise his head or stop writing as he reminded Harry, "Fix my Death Eater, my dear."

  
"Do you really need him to be fix? I mean..." Harry turned to stare at Barty with a malicious smirk on his face, "I happen to like that precious stupid look on dear Barty's face."

  
"When I said you can play with my Death Eaters, I specifically told you to not break any of them." Voldemort reminded him and placed one of the parchment on the table before picking another parchment, "Your ire over Barty's participation in forcing you in this tournament should have been abated with you burning his mark and your hand."

  
Harry hummed and said nonchalantly, "I don't know. I still feel a bit peeved. And he hasn't said sorry yet."

  
Voldemort sighed in resignation and ordered, "Barty, kneel and beg for forgiveness."

  
"My Lord?" Barty couldn't help but ask out of surprise at the sudden order.

  
"For the sake of our sanity, it's better to let this little menace have what he wants." Voldemort deadpanned, glaring at Harry when he coughed a word that sounded very much like 'whipped' before he turned his glare towards Barty as he hissed, "Or are you disobeying me, Barty?"

  
Barty immediately knelt and pressed his forehead against the floor as he dutifully said, "Please forgive my previous transgression, Little Lord."

  
Harry blinked and stared at Barty for a moment before asking, "Was that an insult?"

  
"Absolutely not!" Barty immediately replied, "As you are to be wed to My Lord, it is only natural that I call you properly. If Little Lord is not to your liking, may I inquire how you wish to be called?"

  
Harry grinned mischievously while Voldemort frowned, raising his head to glare at Harry's back, as Harry said, "Great Lord."

  
"No." Voldemort immediately rejected.

  
"My God?"

  
"Don't flatter yourself, dear."

  
"Your Grace."

  
"As long as you have the grace of a blind drunk Hufflepuff trying to dance, no."

  
"Oh, now you're just being petty." Harry whined, pouting at Voldemort.

  
"Just accept 'Little Lord', my dear." Voldemort ordered before handing the parchment he was currently holding to Harry. Harry stared at the parchment being handed to him and Voldemort deadpanned, "It's our engagement contract."

  
"Oh, goodie." Harry said childishly and took the parchment. He began swaying his feet as he began to read. Luna knelt in front of Barty and began combing his hair with her hands, gently tugging the knots off.

  
"Um... Little Lord?" Barty called out, unsure if he should bat Luna's hands off or not.

  
"Stay still and let my pup play with you." Harry ordered absentmindedly. He blinked twice and asked Voldemort without glancing away from the parchment in his hands, "Tom dear, why is there a clause here that states I relinquish all my Wizengamot votes to you once I reach my adulthood?"

  
Voldemort grabbed the first parchment he had finished revising and handed it to Harry without looking up, scribbling something on the parchment he was currently working on Harry grabbed the parchment and opened it, his eyes widening at the first paragraph of the letter. Harry turned to look at Voldemort and asked, "I'm getting emancipated?!"

  
"While the traditional magical marriage can be done once both parties reached the age of thirteen, the Ministry of Magic only accept a marriage as legal when both parties are considered adult. That means the only way I can vote for your behalf once we're married when you are in Hogwarts is if the Ministry consider you an adult and accepts our marriage." Voldemort explained, "We will request that you be emancipated so that we would have full access to all your vaults and inheritance as well. That way, even if you are here in Hogwarts, I could still access them in case they have something of value. The goblins should find no problems in granting the request since you are already seen as an adult wizard thanks to your participation in this tournament."

  
"Tug his hair hard, Luna." Harry ordered immediately, grinning at the surprise yelp Barty made when Luna tug his hair mercilessly without any hesitation. Harry stared at the two parchments in his hands and asked, "I don't get why there should be this clause. I mean... okay, I get emancipated before our marriage. I can vote for you once we get married anyway. It's not like I'll be in Hogwarts after Yule."

  
Voldemort stared at Harry for a few moments, a stony expression on his face. He leaned back and said seriously, "Try to control your temper while I... ask for confirmation."

  
Harry raised an eyebrow at the weird request but kept quiet. Voldemort returned the quill he was using in its previous place as he asked, "Barty, would be possible for Harry to not participate in the tournament?"

  
"No, My Lord." Barty replied immediately, wincing when he felt Luna pull his hair hard once more while Harry turned to face him with wide eyes. Barty closed his eyes and explained, "Dumbledore, being his Magical Guardian, could have refused him in participating when his name had been called but, as My Lord had predicted before, he did not refuse Little Lord's participation in the tournament. Due to this, he is an official champion and is bound by the same rules as the other champions. All champions are required to participate in all trials and only death or grave injuries can exempt them from that responsibility. Failure to do so will end their life."

  
Harry jumped off the desk and screeched, making Voldemort wince and Barty jumped out of surprise at the Banshee-like sound of his voice, "DUMBLEDORE COULD HAVE REFUSED?!"

  
Voldemort took a deep breath and said in a soft soothing tone, attempting to calm Harry before he unleashed his full mini-Walburga mode, "Dumbledore is your Magical Guardian. He has final say in all kinds of magical contracts related to you. That is also another reason why we need you emancipated. The only way Dumbledore will stop being your Magical Guardian is if either a more appropriate and rightful person requests to be your guardian or you become seen as an adult by the Ministry."

  
Harry turned to sneer at Voldemort, "And you knew he was going to let me participate in this suicide trip?!"

  
"I will not say that I know how that old goat's mind work but I did know that there was a high possibility he would see this as an opportunity to further your fame and his by association." Voldemort admitted, keeping his eyes trained at the seething Gryffindor who seemed very close to making a sneer that would have put Snape to shame.

  
"Well that backfired spectacularly at him, didn't it?! I guess he didn't expect the entire school would antagonize me or the Wizarding world would believe Rita Skeeter!" Harry shrieked angrily, making Barty wince and back away from Harry. Luna kept her hands on his hair and got dragged away as well. Harry closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He slowly exhaled and inhaled once more. He exhaled slowly again and opened his eyes, glaring at Voldemort. He folded his arms and sneered, "Putting aside my current status to the Wizarding populace, what does this mean? I have to compete till the very end?"

  
Voldemort silently thanked whoever was listening to his silent pleas for making Harry not go full mini-Walburga and nodded, "Yes."

  
"Great." Harry drawled before hissing at Voldemort, "I hope you know this means you'll be stuck with me till the end of this tournament now."

  
"No. We will continue as we plan." Voldemort said seriously, "We will be married in Yule and we will conceive a child before you return to Hogwarts after the Yule break. Our bind will only break once a child has been conceived."

  
"Unless you're planning on being the male seahorse, no, we are not going to conceive a child during my Yule break!" Harry retorted, glaring at Voldemort, "This tournament is too dangerous! I could risk getting a miscarriage!"

  
"Not if you minimize straining yourself physically and use my magical core for the remainder of your term in Hogwarts." Voldemort said which caused Harry to pause. Barty's eyes widened and he turned to stare at Voldemort.

  
"My Lord, if you let him access your magical core, Dumbledore and the others may notice." Barty reasoned worriedly.

  
Voldemort rolled his eyes and retorted, "He doesn't have to access all of my magical reserve. Only enough to stabilize the development of our child and support the extra stress the tournament will have on him physically and magically.”

  
  


Voldemort grabbed Harry's hand and squeezed it gently in an attempt to soothe the young man as he explained, “During the remainder of your year here in Hogwarts, I would be rebuilding my forces so that I can properly protect you and our child once you end your fourth year. This is our best course of action at the moment, Harry."

  
"Besides..." Voldemort grabbed the remaining parchments and placed them on the desk in front of Harry as he explained, "These parchments will keep you from harm's way after Yule."

  
Harry eyed the parchments warily before picking the nearest one, letting Voldemort hold his other hand. He placed the two opened parchments back to the table and open the rolled parchment. He raised an eyebrow as he asked, "Request for identification papers? You can request Gringotts to make fake identification papers?"

  
"You can request anything from Gringotts as long as you have the galleons. That request is for both the magical world and the muggle world which they will slip unnoticed to the ministry and the muggle government using their connections." Voldemort added. He grabbed the parchment and pulled it out of Harry's hand as he added, "This is just one of the first steps we need to make to keep you safe. Tomorrow, you will go meet with the Headmaster of Durmstrang."

  
"And why would I want to do that?" Harry asked, raising an eyebrow at Voldemort.

  
"Because he's also one of my Death Eaters." Voldemort reasoned, smirking as he added, "And unlike Barty, I will not mind if you happen to inflict him as much pain as you desire."

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a head's up. Next chapter's gonna be a bit... dark-ish... kinda... I think...
> 
> The principle of Parselmagic is purely made up. It's actually pretty much a famous fanon... I think?


	8. The Champions (and The Headmaster of Durmstrang)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A series of lightly connected short conversations between Harry and the other champions........ plus Karkaroff.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning for this chapter:  
> 1 unbeta'ed as usual  
> 2 Harry shows how good in acting he is  
> 3 This is darker than the rest of the current chapters  
> 4 Pathetic attempt at mimicking everyone's accents (please tell me if I screw someone up)  
> 5 This... is long...

===========The Badger Knight===========

 

 

Harry had been minding his own business, walking towards his next class without a care in the world. He was sure Voldemort was following him silently but the older man was silent even through their mental link. Harry's mood wasn't the best considering he had to find a way to get to Durmstrang's ship and meet (punish) the Headmaster.

  
  


Quite frankly, had it not been for the ward placed in the ship that forbids any non-Durmstrang associated personnel to enter without a Durmstrang personnel near them, Harry would have just donned his Invisibility Cloak with Voldemort and infiltrated the ship without any hassle.

  
  


It was slowly plummeting to genocidal tendencies because of the stares and whispers the rest of the student body seemed keen on giving him.

  
Harry would think after weeks have passed since that dreadful fire spitting goblet incident, they would get tired with the whole whispering and staring.

  
But noooooo.

  
  


Harry was still the embodiment of Hogwart's gossip.

  
Some of the gossips he heard from Luna were really out of there.

  
There was gossips about him actually being Voldemort and the reason why he could pass the age line was because the goblet acknowledged Voldemort's real age instead of his own age.

  
  


Speaking of Luna, words have spread about how the loony Ravenclaw had been seen walking with him which was weird since they had only walked 'visibly' after eating dinner in Barty's (Moody's) quarters. Harry had simply walked with Luna and they had chatted along the way about Luna's curriculum (and Harry bemoaning how much fun 2nd year DADA sounded when the professor was actually competent).

  
  


That short walk was apparently enough to make people think Luna was his girl friend.

  
  


He even overheard someone whisper how Luna may be his first follower... as a Dark Lord.

  
  


According to the logic of magical people (insert sarcasm here), befriending (seducing) an outcast loony Ravenclaw meant that Harry was trying to build a loyal inner circle. Now, if Harry was building his own inner circle (he felt Voldemort's amusement at this thought), yes, he will admit Luna would make a good candidate. Nothing seemed to faze the girl, she had already pledged a loyalty oath to him and she almost always had that dreamy look on her face that would just freak people out when she starts casting vicious curses and hexes.

  
  


… Voldemort's agreed that the idea of a young girl wearing a dreamy look casting vicious curses and hexes was very disconcerting.

  
  


But that was IF Harry was building his own inner circle which he wasn't because...

  
  


One: that would mean having to talk to so many people to try and find out which one would be a good candidate.

  
  


Two: that would mean having to think about the pros and cons of each candidates.

  
  


Three: reasons one and two should be done with the most utmost discretion for both the possible candidates and the rest of Hogwarts.

  
  


In summary... Too. Much. Work.

  
  


He felt Voldemort's annoyance at Harry's laziness.

  
  


Well, he's sorry that he isn't an ambitious self-centered megalomaniac like _someone_ but Voldemort should find this a good thing. Because Harry was lazy, he didn't mind just following Voldemort's orders like he was just another minion of the evil Dark Lord (mwuhahaha).

  
  


Harry didn't understand why Voldemort would get annoyed over the aspects of Harry's personality that, when one thinks about it, actually makes him more docile and obedient to Voldemort's will.

  
Harry sighed tiredly and tried to stop thinking about how submissive he was in this relationship (er... yeah... that could totally be taken in a very different adult kind of way), wondering how bad it would be to just skip Divinations and hide in Barty's quarters. He was pretty sure he can get Voldemort's permission by telling the older wizard he could just read one of the books he borrowed from the library instead of pretending to see his death in the random patterns of his tea leaves.

  
  


… Voldemort reluctantly agreed that Harry's idea was better than going to that useless subject.

  
Harry yelped and fell on his face as he felt a stinging hex hit his ankle. He heard Voldemort hiss angrily and Harry groaned, not bothering to stand up.

  
"Smith!" Harry heard a familiar boy's voice called out angrily. Harry closed his eyes and took a deep breath, musing how nice the cold floor felt against his forehead.

  
"Do you think it's funny to hex a defenseless student?!"

  
Harry wasn't defenseless. He had a big bad Dark Lord behind him, currently wondering if he should hex the idiot who hexed him or to hex Harry out of annoyance over Harry's laziness to get off the floor.

  
  


… not that would work on Harry because of the bind.

  
"Are you a Hufflepuff or are you a cowardly Slytherin?!"

  
Oh Salazar have mercy upon his soul. He got hexed by a Hufflepuff.

  
... Voldemort was so going to kill him.

  
"But Cedric, everyone knows he's a greedy git! I just did what everyone has been wanting to do!"

  
He got hexed by a Hufflepuff and was being protected by another Hufflepuff.

  
It was official. Voldemort was going to strangle his scrawny little neck.

  
"That is not a reason to hex someone! 10 points from Hufflepuff!"

  
His pain was only worth 10 points?

  
Oh, Cedric, you wound Harry's fragile little heart.

  
"Now get to your class before I give you detention as well!"

  
His pain wasn't even worth an hour of detention.

  
Harry felt the need to sob.

  
Preferably on Barty's shoulder so he could make the older man all awkward and nervous. He could get Luna to hug them both, making Barty a lot more awkward.

  
He heard someone huff before running away from him. Harry heard another pair of footsteps walk closer to him. Harry kept his eyes closed and kept still.

  
"Are you alright, Potter?"

  
Harry sighed tiredly and rolled over, staring at Cedric with a wry smile as he replied, "I'm just peachy, Diggory. The cool floor felt so nice against my forehead."

  
Cedric forced a smile and offered his hand at Harry as he apologized, "I'm sorry for how Smith acted. I'll talk to my fellow Hufflepuffs to cut you some slack."

  
Harry stared at Cedric's hand for a second before he turned his gaze towards the older boy as he asked, "Why are you being nice to me, Diggory?"

  
Cedric's smile became grim as he mused, "I suppose I deserve that. Potter..."

  
Cedric knelt on one knee next to Harry's head, forcing Harry to turn his head slightly to the side to be able to see Cedric, and apologized sincerely, "I'm sorry for how I acted these past weeks."

  
"I got caught up with everything and I just..." Cedric stopped and whispered softly, "I'm really sorry, Harry."

  
  


Harry stared at Cedric for a moment before sighing. He turned to stare at the ceiling as he said in a monotone voice, "How dull."

  
Cedric blinked at Harry's words. Harry got up, dusted his robes and rubbed his forehead as he said in a dismissive manner, "Apology accepted. Your sin has been absolved, Sir Diggory. Run along now and bring your fellow badgers back to the light."

  
Cedric stood and grabbed Harry's forearm to stop the younger man from walking off, "Wait, Harry!"

  
"I would suggest not calling me by my first name. People might think you're on my side." Harry mused, staring at the hand currently holding his forearm.

  
"I am on your side." Cedric replied stubbornly.

  
"No, you're not." Harry retorted with a sigh. He raised his head to stare at Cedric and explained, "I'm the Wizarding World's public enemy number one at the moment, Diggory, and you happen to be Britain's golden boy, the real Hogwarts' champion."

  
"I-"

  
"I'm not being kind, Diggory. I'm trying to keep the damages to a minimum." Harry sneered, glaring at Cedric, "Becoming buddy-buddy with you will just worsen my already bad image to the masses. They'll probably say I'm pretending to be your friend so I wouldn't appear like the greedy fame whore that I really am."

  
Harry jerked his arm out of Cedric's grip and stepped away. He smiled sadly at Cedric and said, "Thank you for talking to me. I would appreciate it if you keep your fellow badgers from hexing me in the future."

  
"Harry..." Cedric opened his mouth then closed it. He looked so devastated at Harry was reminded that one time he saw Piers make the same expression when his pet cat got ran over by a car. There were guts and blood everywhere. They had to scrap some of it off the pavement itself. Cedric grabbed Harry's hand gently which only made Harry tilt his head at him. Cedric whispered sadly, "I'm really sorry."

  
"Duly noted." Harry replied calmly, squeezing Cedric's hand lightly before letting go. He smiled at Cedric and said, "Goodbye, Diggory."

  
Harry turned around and walked away, not bothering to wait for Cedric to response.

  
Harry never noticed how Cedric stared at him as he walked away, his face filled with concern and sadness.

  
Harry never noticed how Voldemort stopped and glared at Cedric for a few seconds before silently following Harry.  
  
  


  
===========The French Lily===========

  
  


Harry groaned and sat on the window sill, rubbing his sore ankle. The stinging hex the damn badger had sent him had caused his ankle to swell slightly. The pain was bearable but his foot wasn't walking properly anymore. He was actually thinking of asking Voldemort to get Barty or Luna... whoever was available and get either of them to help him walk to the infirmary.

  
  


It did seem like the appropriate time for Harry to visit the infirmary...

  
  


Merlin forbid his dear Madam Pomfrey not see him for an entire month!

  
That might very well unwound the fabrics of time itself!

  
"<<That Hufflepuff must be punished.>>" Voldemort hissed right next to his ear, causing a stop to Harry's internal dramatic monologue.

  
Harry rolled his eyes and hissed back, "<<Can't. He'll know it was me.>>"

  
"<<That's the point!>>" Voldemort angrily hissed, "<<This will let him know not to mess with you.>>"

  
Harry sighed tiredly and rubbed the slight bump as he reasoned, "<<He's a coward, Tom. He attacked me while my back was turned. A coward like him will only whine and complain to everyone about how Harry Potter attacked him. Considering my current standing in this hellhole, your idea of revenge will only make my life more annoyingly unbearable.>>"

  
"<<So you will let him walk all over you?>>" Voldemort sneered and Harry could feel his anger seeping through their link.

  
Harry rolled his eyes and hissed back, "<<Lose the battle but win the war, my dear Tom.>>"

  
Voldemort hissed angrily at him but did not say anything. Harry rolled his eyes and commented, "<<Honestly, Tom. It's when you're so hot-blooded that I wonder how in seven hells were you able to almost win the first war.>>"

  
  


He did have an idea why. Considering how Tom Riddle was considered to be one of Hogwarts' greatest student of all time, it wasn't such a ludicrous idea that every student that had said they had been hexed or cursed would simply be filed as jealousy and lies.

  
  


Of course, that was not counting...

  
Harry snickered as he added, "<<Then I remember your opponents and I understand why.>>"

  
"<<Do not make me attempt to pull that tongue of yours off, my dear.>>" Voldemort warned.

  
Harry rolled his eyes and was about to retort when he heard a heavily accented female voice asked, "Are you alright?"

  
Harry raised his head and saw Fleur standing in front of him. Her usual group of friends were standing a few feet away from them, staring at Harry as they whisper among themselves. Harry sighed tiredly and smiled wryly at Fleur as he replied, "Just peachy, Miss Delacour. No need to worry your pretty little head."

  
Fleur narrowed her eyes at Harry's swollen ankle as she retorted, "You do not look alright."

  
Harry chuckled before he admitted, "It's my pale skin and scrawny figure. They make me look like I'm forever sick."

  
Fleur stepped forward, taking her wand out as she said, "Your ankle looked like it's been hit by a swell 'ex."

  
"It's was actually a stinging hex." Harry corrected with a shrug.

  
Fleur frowned and commented, "The one 'oo 'ex you 'ave no proper control over zeir magical output."

  
"Feel free to lecture your fellow champion's fellow housemate about his lack of control, Ms. Delacour." Harry drawled, staring at Fleur's wand.

  
"A fellow 'Ogwarts student did zis to you?" Harry snorted at the scandalous look Fleur was giving him.

  
"Never saw your fellow schoolmates outcast a problem child?" Harry asked with a raised eyebrow.

  
"Zat's..." Fleur closed her mouth. She frowned and admitted, "I didn't know your situation was zis bad."

  
"Not really." Harry shrugged and nonchalantly commented, "It's just muggle elementary school all over."

  
Fleur gently grabbed Harry's ankle. Harry instinctively jerked his ankle at Fleur's cold touch but Fleur simply tightened her grip on Harry's ankle. She stared at his swollen ankle as she asked, "You were also an outcast in ze muggle world? I 'eard you were loved and treated like a prince back zere."

  
"Nah. My relatives hate me and spread rumors about me being a criminal or something. No teachers believe me and all the other kids bully me." Harry corrected with such a nonchalant tone which only served to unnerve and worry Fleur more. Fleur whispered so softly Harry couldn't understand her words but his ankle was engulfed in a warm blue light. The swelling slowly became smaller. A few seconds later, his ankle had returned to its original size and Fleur let go. Harry inspected his ankle a bit before raising his head to smile at Fleur as he said, "Thanks."

  
Fleur grimaced at him and opened her mouth but Harry beat her to it by meekly asking, "I would prefer it if you didn't announce to the entire world about the Boy-Who-Lived's tragic backstory."

  
"Why?" Fleur asked in a slightly high pitched tone.

  
Harry smiled bitterly at her and replied, "Because it's none of their business."

  
"Zen why did you tell me?" Fleur asked, gripping her wand tightly.

  
Harry shrugged and replied nonchalantly, "You asked."

  
Harry bowed and said, "Good day, Ms. Delacour."

  
Harry jumped off the window sill and walked passed Fleur. He counted to three and stopped just in time with Fleur shouting, "Wait!"

  
Harry turned to stare at her curiously and she gave him the same despaired look Cedric had given him just a few minutes ago. She took a deep breath and schooled her face into one of determination (which amused Harry) before she took a step forward and offered, "If you need someone to talk to... I will always be willing to listen, 'Arry Potter."

  
"Duly noted. Goodbye, Ms. Delacour." Harry replied calmly before turning around once more. He walked passed Fleur's fellow schoolmates who rushed towards Fleur.

  
They began conversing in French which Harry paid no attention to. He sighed tiredly and mumbled, "Might as well get this over with..."

  
===========The Bulgarian Prince===========

  
Ditching Divination without any feelings of remorse, Harry quickly walked the empty hallways, arriving in the library in record time (in Harry's personal records anyway). Harry didn't bother to greet the librarian who gave him the stink eye (which was nothing new) and immediately walked right up to the unsuspecting Bulgarian, stopping right next to him in the History of Magic aisle, and smiling pleasantly as he greeted, "Hi!"

  
Krum slowly turned his head to face him and nodded in greeting. Harry stepped closer, invading Krum's personal space, and grinned when he saw Krum's face show a moment of awkward displeasure before returning to the stony expression the older boy seemed to normally wore. Harry lowered his voice to a soft whisper as he bluntly said, "I need to talk to your headmaster."

  
  


It was too Gryffindorian for his taste (and Voldemort's) but Harry didn't want to think anymore. He didn't want to plan another route to get him to the ship when there was a dashing escort right here he could use anyway.

  
  


Screw subterfuge and all that Slytherin rubbish.

  
"Igor?" Krum asked, frowning slightly.

  
Harry blinked and replied, "If that's your Headmaster's name then yes, him."

  
"Vhy vould you vont to speak to him?" Krum asked in a heavily accented tone.

  
Harry pouted and replied, "I honestly don't know. I was ordered by a prat to find a way to talk to him so here I am, asking you a favor."

  
  


Voldemort sent his displeasure over Harry's insult through their link which Harry simply ignored.

  
"You vish to talk to him because of a friend of yours?" Krum asked for clarification, his frown deepening.

  
"Calling that pain in the arse a friend isn't exactly correct." Harry replied with a shrug before stepping closer once more, his shoulder bumping against Krum's, as he continued, "Anyway, can you help me? I just need you to smuggle me into his room-"

  
"His room?!" Krum repeatedly scandalously and Harry shushed him. Harry looked around and saw Madam Pince glaring at them. Harry grinned apologetically at her and grabbed Krum's arm.

  
"Walk with me." Harry hissed, dragging Krum out of the library. The older boy let Harry drag him towards the hallway, staring at the smaller boy, as Harry commented, "I don't see why you have to shout so loudly."

  
"You vish to visit Igor in his room." Krum scandalously said, making Harry roll his eyes. They continued to walk as they talked.

  
"Of course I would. Our meeting has got to be private and very hush-hush." Harry explained, turning to grin at Krum as he added, "So yes, it would be nice if I can visit his room."

  
"Do you know vot he is?" Krum asked, leaning towards Harry to whisper, "He is a Death Eater."

  
"Ex." Harry corrected. Seeing Krum's frown, he explained, "From what I hear, your dear headmaster got caught and gave up a lot of names to the Ministry. One of them was the Dark Lord's favorite."

  
"And the Dark Lord does not like traitors." Harry shrugged and added, "Especially those who hurt his favorites."

  
"How do you know?" Krum asked, staring at Harry and letting the younger boy dictate where they were walking.

  
"Hm? Which part? Your headmaster being an ex-Death Eater or the Dark Lord's personality?" Harry asked back, smiling innocently at Krum.

  
  


The stony expression on the older boy's face only interested Harry more.

  
  


Just how further did he need to push to see Krum react?

  
  


He felt Voldemort's feelings from their mental link, silently warning him to stay on track.

  
  


Yeah, yeah.

  
  


Harry knew he needed to prioritize Voldemort's plans. He wasn't stupid.

  
"Both." Krum replied which only made Harry grin.

  
"I have a very reliable source." Harry explained vaguely before grinning as he asked, "Didn't you hear the rumors? I'm apparently the next Dark Lord."

  
  


Harry frowned as he mumbled, "Oh, wait. That was during my second year..."

  
Harry shrugged and continued to drag Krum as he said, "Anyway, many people know your headmaster was a Death Eater apparently. It's not really a secret or anything."

  
"And you still vish to talk to him?" Krum asked with a hint of worry laced in his voice.

  
Harry shrugged and replied nonchalantly, "Personally I'd rather laze around a comfortable couch and read one of the books I borrowed. Unfortunately, I can't say no to this plan."

  
"And vot is this plan?" Krum asked, staring at Harry.

  
Harry grinned at Krum and replied, "Sorry, Mister Krum. Time's up."

  
Harry let go of Krum's arm and backed away. Krum had to look around to finally realize that, while his whole attention was to Harry, Harry had dragged him back to their ship and they were now standing at the corridor that houses their bedrooms. Harry glanced around and mused, "So I'm guessing the door larger than the rest of other doors is your headmaster's room?"

  
Harry didn't wait for Krum's answer and began walking towards the said door. Krum followed him and warned, "It vill be better if I stay vith you."

  
Harry stopped and turned to stare at Krum. He tilted his head and asked, "Why?"

  
"Because..." Krum frowned and hesitantly admitted, "You should not trust Igor."

  
Harry snorted and immediately covered his mouth when he saw Krum's frown grow. He dropped his hand and smiled at Krum as he replied, "Don't worry. I don't trust your headmaster in the first place."

  
"Then-"

  
"But I do need to meet with him in private." Harry cut him off, smiling sweetly as he said, "Thank you for the warning, Mister Krum. Good bye."

  
Harry turned around and counted to three. He stopped just in time with Krum's "Vait!"

  
Harry turned around to face Krum once more and Krum took a few steps forward. He stopped at the third door and explained, "This is my room. After your meeting with Igor, knock and I vill take you back to the castle."

  
Harry blinked at the strange order but nodded all the same. Krum stared at Harry gravely as he said, "Be careful."

  
Harry smiled at him and replied, "Thank you."

  
With that said, Harry turned around once more and walked towards the large door. It was locked but Harry simply cast the unlocking spell and turned the knob. He pushed the door open and stepped inside. He glanced at Krum and smiled one last time before closing the door behind him. He locked it and sighed, lazily walking towards the couch.

  
He ungracefully fell on the couch and asked, "Happy?"

  
Voldemort didn't take off the cloak but he offered his hand towards Harry, palm up. Harry stared at the pale floating disembodied hand for a second before he took out his wand. He placed the wand on the open hand and let Voldemort cast his array of overly paranoid silencing and privacy charms. Harry opened his bag and took out the Pure-blood Etiquette book he had borrowed, patiently reading while waiting for Voldemort to finish casting to his paranoid heart's content.

  
"I am not happy but I am satisfied with your actions and their effects." Voldemort finally replied, remaining hidden in the Invisibility Cloak.

  
  


Harry snorted and mumbled, “The only thing that makes you happy is throwing Crucio on poor unsuspecting fools.”

  
  


Voldemort glared at him as he finally took off the Invisibility Cloak. Instead of handing it to Harry, he folded it and placed it inside the pocket of his robes. Harry didn't seem to mind and was only wondering how this cloak could fit in Voldemort's pocket.

  
  


… probably an extension charm...

  
  


"So... you mind telling me why I should act all sappy towards the other champions?" Harry asked instead as he flipped the page of the book he was currently reading. That was more important than asking if Voldemort was using extension charms. He had a feeling the older man would look at him with disdain if he asked that question in a sort of 'isn't it obvious, you bumbling fool?' kind of way.

  
Voldemort sat on the office chair, looking at the parchments littering the table but not touching any of them, as he replied, "Simply laying ground work for your survival, my dear."

  
Harry blinked and lowered his book to stare at Voldemort as he asked, "Are we going for the 'poor abused Harry Potter' route?"

  
Voldemort raised his head and asked back, "Would you mind?"

  
Harry shrugged and replied, "Not really. As long as you give me a head's up so I can prepare the gradual transition to being Tom Riddle's illegitimate grandson to poor abused Harry Potter."

  
Voldemort glared at Harry and asked in an annoyed tone, "Must you always call it that?"

  
Harry returned to reading his book as he replied in a bored tone that does not suit the grin he was currently sporting, "As long as it gets you all riled up, love tart."

  
Voldemort glared at Harry but the younger wizard paid him no mind, flipping the pages of his book as he read the different rules to follow during a tea party. Harry frowned as he said, "You know this sort of thing is easier to understand using practical means and not books."

  
Voldemort stared at Harry for a moment before frowning as he commented on Harry's imagination instead, "I do not understand why you would want to recreate the tea party in Alice in Wonderland."

  
Harry lowered his book and raised an eyebrow as he replied, "Luna would make a nice Alice. I think I'd make a wicked Mad Hatter-"

  
"You definitely have the 'mad' part down." Voldemort drawled which only made Harry grin.

  
"Barty can be my bunny And Wormtail could be the rat. We can just spike his tea with a sleeping potion." Harry suggested with a wicked grin, "Or we can make it a muscle freezing potion so he's still conscious but cannot move at all."

  
Voldemort tapped Harry's wand against the desk as he mused, "I have always wanted to test a certain muscle freezing potion I saw in one of the obscure Dark Arts potion book I found in the Malfoy Library. It was banned because improper dosage could paralyze the drinker and risk heart failure. Nothing a shocking hex couldn't recover, of course."

  
Harry grinned as he nodded eagerly, "We can use Wormtail. He's pretty much useless, right?"

  
"Wormtail has his uses." Voldemort retorted in a bored tone before adding nonchalantly, "Being an experimental rat is one of them."

  
"Pllleasseee, Tom." Harry batted his eyelashes at Voldemort which only made Voldemort want to hex him, "Can I experiment on Wormtail once we get married? You know, before you give him to my godfather as part of our engagement contract."

  
Voldemort sighed dramatically before replying, "Very well. Make sure to clean up your mess afterwards."

  
Harry clapped his hands and giddily said, "Ooohh, I need to make a list of what I want to do to him."

  
Harry took out a piece of parchment and skipped towards Voldemort. He stopped right in front of the work desk and placed the parchment on top. He grabbed the nearest quill and dipped it onto an open bottle of ink before he began scribbling onto the parchment with a grin on his face.

  
Voldemort stared at the list of experiments Harry was scribbling, finding amusement in how many of them were Dark and would be quite painful on Wormtail. He hid his surprise and curiosity when he saw Harry remembering the spells from a diary he knew well. It seemed most of his knowledge of the Dark Arts came from Voldemort's diary.

  
  


From Tom Riddle...

  
  


He pointed at one of them and commented, "This one, we can do right now."

  
Harry raised his head to stare at Voldemort and asked, "You warded this place like Barty's?"

  
"There is no need for such a thing." Voldemort replied, "This is a Durmstrang ship. As far as Hogwarts is concern, this is not part of her responsibility as this is Bulgarian land. The Bulgarian Ministry of Magic do not hold a tight surveillance over Dark Magic as they support all forms of magic."

  
Harry's lips curved into a malicious grin as he said, "That means..."

  
"Yes." Voldemort's own lips curved into a sadistic smirk and they both turned around at the sound of the door creaking open. Harry returned to the armchair, pocketed the parchment he had been writing on and raised his book, staring at the last page he was reading while Voldemort stood by the wall next to the door.

  
The door covered Voldemort's figure and Karkaroff walked into the room, stopping by the center when he saw Harry sitting on the armchair, reading. Karkaroff took out his wand and aimed it at Harry as he demanded, "What are you doing here?!"

  
Harry lowered his book slowly and smiled brightly at Karkaroff as he greeted, "Hello, Headmaster."

  
Harry continued his mimicry of Tom Riddle's smile as he continued, "I'm just here as a companion. Your real guest is right behind you and-"

  
Voldemort slammed the door close and hissed, "Crucio!"

  
Karkaroff screamed and fell on his knees, closing his eyes out of reflex. Harry raised an eyebrow as he ended, "-very crossed with you..."

  
Harry closed his book and placed it on top of one of his chair's armrest before skipping towards the writhing headmaster. Harry crouched next to Karkaroff and watched as the older wizard continued to scream in pain. Harry counted up to fifteen before Voldemort finally stopped the curse. Harry took note of Karkaroff's heavy breathing, the tears falling from his closed eyes and the drool that had began to form on the floor next to his open mouth. Harry raised his head to look at Voldemort who had been staring at Harry the entire time (not that Harry realized it) and asked, "I noticed you kept him under the curse five seconds longer than Barty. Does five seconds really make this much difference?"

  
Voldemort raised an eyebrow as he asked back, "You counted?"

  
Harry shrugged and replied nonchalantly, "I like to observe."

  
"It's not the length that made him into this pathetic mess." Voldemort explained, rolling Karkaroff to his back using his foot, "One factor is a person's strong will. Karkaroff has a weaker will than Barty. So, so pathetically weak."

  
Voldemort spatted the last sentence at the same time he sent a stinging hex towards Karkaroff's arm, making Karkaroff whimper as his already sensitive nerves were abused once more. Harry paid no attention to Karkaroff, listening intently to Voldemort's explanation, "Another factor would be the person's pain tolerance. Barty has a higher pain tolerance than Karkaroff as well."

  
Voldemort stepped over Karkaroff, earning a pained grunt from Karkaroff, and walked towards Harry's location. Voldemort offered his hand to Harry who took it. Voldemort pulled Harry back to his feet and stepped behind him. He placed Harry's holly wand on Harry's hand and leaned forward, whispering at Harry's ear, "The final and most important factor is better demonstrated than explained."

  
Harry raised an eyebrow and caressed his wand, subconsciously mimicking Voldemort's habit, as he replied, "Okay. And how will this demonstration go?"

  
"Try and cast the Cruiciatus curse, my dear." Voldemort instructed, smirking sadistically as he explained, "There's no need for any fancy wand movements. Simply point and say 'Crucio'."

  
Karkaroff tried to crawl away but his body wouldn't cooperate with him. Karkaroff turned to look at Harry and pleaded, "Please... Potter... this isn't you..."

  
Harry tilted his head and asked with an innocent expression in his face, "And who am I, Headmaster Karkaroff?"

  
Harry aimed his wand towards Karkaroff and chanted, "Crucio."

  
Bright red light erupted from Harry's wand and hit Karkaroff square on the chest. Karkaroff screamed as he was thrown away from them, hitting the wall with a loud thud. Harry blinked at Karkaroff for a few seconds before turning to look at Voldemort, clutching his wand by his chest. Voldemort couldn't help the amused (and fond but Voldemort will vehemently deny that one) smirk that appeared on his face when he saw Harry's confused expression. Voldemort waved his hand lazily towards Karkaroff and Karkaroff grunted as he was dragged back towards their feet by Voldemort's wandless and nonverbal spell. Voldemort place his hands on Harry's shoulders and whispered, "The final factor is the caster's intent."

  
"Intent..." Harry repeated, staring at Karkaroff.

  
"You must want him to be in pain. You must want him to feel pain." Voldemort leaned closer, his lips brushing against Harry's ear as he whispered in a low seductive drawl, "You must want to hurt him."

  
"I must want to hurt him..." Harry repeated, slowly raising his wand to aim at Karkaroff.

  
"Please, don't, Harry." Karkaroff whimpered, "This isn't you. You're a good boy. Don't listen to him. You don't want to hurt me, right?"

  
Karkaroff knew his fate was sealed when the young Gryffindor's lips curved into the same sadistic smirk the man standing behind him had. His voice was light and soft, almost cooing, as he replied, "Do you really think so, Headmaster?"

  
"Crucio." Harry chanted calmly, the same bright red glow erupting from his wand. This time, the red glow continued to flow from his wand as it hit Karkaroff on the chest. Karkaroff screamed loudly once more, his entire body writhing as he felt a Crucio so frighteningly similar to his lord's. But there was something different about it, more frightening now that Karkaroff thought about it.

  
It was cold.

  
It wasn't like his lord's Crucio that was so full of rage it felt like hot knives burning him from the inside out.

  
Harry Potter's Crucio was different. His Crucio was ice cold. The best comparison Karkaroff's pained mind could come up with was the image of thousands of knives frozen to a temperature that touching the blades burn his skin and muscles. There was no rage in it. It was a pure desire to inflict pain and the coldness Karkaroff felt threaten to consume him, encase him in a frozen state of never-ending pain.

  
He could see in Harry Potter's eyes that he wasn't punishing him because of who he is. He was punishing him because he could and that made Karkaroff's blood run cold.

  
Unlike his lord who he could find some way to amend for his mistakes, there was no need to find some way to appease the young Gryffindor. He didn't need anything from Karkaroff...

  
... other than his pain.

  
That's why he screamed. He screamed so loudly he knew he was hurting his vocal cords. He screamed as loud as he can, hoping his scream would appease the little monster currently torturing him. He could feel his mind slowly going blank and all he could think was the single thought of 'please stop'.

  
'Please stop the pain'

  
'It hurts'

  
'Please kill me instead'

  
pleasekillmepleasekillmepleasekillmepleasekillmepleasekillmepleasekillmepleasekillmepleasekillmepleasekillmepleasekillmepleasekillmepleasekillmepleasekillmepleasekillmepleasekillmepleasekillmepleasekillmepleasekillmepleasekillmepleasekillmepleasekillmepleasekillmepleasekillmepleasekillmepleasekillmepleasekillmepleasekillmepleasekillmepleasekillmepleasekillmepleasekillmepleasekillmepleasekillmepleasekillmepleasekillmepleasekillmepleasekillmepleasekillmepleasekillmepleasekillmepleasekillmepleasekillmepleasekillmepleasekillmepleasekillmepleasekillmepleasekillme

  
Then the pain stopped.

  
Karkaroff could only stare at the ceiling, his ears hearing the words that passed by his lord and the young Gryffindor but could not truly process what they were saying.

  
Unknown to him, the reason why the pain had stopped was because Voldemort had forcefully grabbed Harry's hand and broke the connection between his spell and Karkaroff by raising Harry's hand. Voldemort turned Harry to face him and stared at the young wizard who continued to giggle. He had began giggling nonstop when around seven seconds had passed. He had seen Karkaroff slowly losing his senses when ten seconds had passed. Voldemort placed his hands on Harry's cheeks, forcing the boy to stare at him as he continued to giggle uncontrollably, caressing his wand affectionately. His pupils were dilated, almost completely black, and his cheeks were flushed. His eyes were also dazed, unfocused. Harry continued to giggle but stopped for a moment to ask Voldemort in a soft, dreamy tone, "Does it always feel this good?"

  
Voldemort smiled fondly at the giggling boy in front of him and replied, "No. That euphoria you feel is simply a byproduct of casting an intensive Dark Art. I assume what you're currently feeling is stronger than normal since this is your first time casting such a Dark Art and we chose one of the Unforgivables, one of the strongest Dark magic in existence."

  
"Oh." Harry replied dumbly, blinking owlishly as he said, "I feel very... tingly... inside..."

  
Harry tilted his head as he added, "Like I just wanked."

  
Voldemort snorted and explained, "Yes. Depending on the intensity of the spell, some backlashes does feel like you've just had an orgasm."

  
Harry's giggle turned more hysterical. He patted Voldemort's shoulder lightly as he tried to choke out in between giggles, "Now... I know... why... you... like... this... curse... so... much!"

  
Voldemort rolled his eyes and retorted, "My backlash is not as intense as yours. You still lack the proper control needed for this-"

  
Voldemort didn't finish his sentence when Harry suddenly fell on him. Voldemort kept Harry on his feet by grabbing his shoulders. Harry nuzzled his cheek against Voldemort's chest and mumbled tiredly, "Tom... I'm sleepy now..."

  
Voldemort's lips curved to an amused smile as he replied, "Yes, I would assume you would be."

  
Voldemort dragged Harry towards the armchair and let the boy rest comfortably on the armchair. Harry patted Voldemort's chest and mumbled, "If bonking with you is like this then I suppose you would be pretty good."

  
Voldemort frowned at Harry's choice of words. He knew what Harry was talking since he could actually feel the elation Harry had felt the entire time thanks to their shared mental link that Harry had no protection against. Voldemort patted Harry's kneecap once as he said with a cocky smirk, "Sexual intercourse with me will be so much better, my dear."

  
Harry giggled and tiredly retorted, "Egotistic prat."

  
Voldemort patted Harry's kneecap once more before taking his wand from his loose fingers. Voldemort turned to face Karkaroff who was now breathing better than before yet Voldemort knew that the aftereffects of his and Harry's Crucios should still be coursing through his body. Voldemort walked towards Karkaroff's prone form and stared down at him, tilting his head slightly as he hissed, "Do you think I am a merciful lord, Igor?"

  
Karkaroff had to gulp twice before he could stutter weakly, "Y-ye-yes, my lord."

  
"And why is that, Igor?" Voldemort asked, his words slowly turning to a more hissing tone as his anger for Karkaroff slowly returned. His mental link with Harry was still open, meaning the young wizard was watching him silently. He was too tired to form any other thoughts and simply focused on watching Voldemort which was fine with Voldemort.

  
Voldemort always enjoyed having an audience.

  
Voldemort walked slowly around Karkaroff, caressing Harry's wand gently. The holly still felt a bit strange in his hand but the Dark residue of the Crucios they've been throwing was still wrapped around the wand, giving Voldemort a sense of familiarity...

  
... and a desire to cast another Crucio just to feel the same elation Harry had felt.

  
Never had his own Crucios ever felt as disturbing pleasurable as Harry's.

  
"Be-because yo-you haven't killed me yet, my l-l-lord." Karkaroff stuttered, forcing his body to his hands and knees so he may bow his head. He bowed so lowly his head was already touching the floor. His entire body still trembled at the aftershock over the two strong Crucios he had endured.

  
"Yes. A traitor like you should be killed." Voldemort hissed angrily, making Karkaroff cower and force his body to look smaller. Voldemort knelt in front of Karkaroff and placed the tip of the holly wand by Karkaroff's chin as he hissed, "Be grateful I still find use for you, Igor."

  
Voldemort pressed the tip against Karkaroff's chin, forcing the quivering man to raise his head. Voldemort glared at Karkaroff as he warned, "There will be no third chances, Karkaroff. Do I make myself clear?"

  
Karkaroff stared at Voldemort with fear in his eyes as he whispered, "I-I am y-yours to command, my lord."

  
Voldemort's lips curved into a predatory smirk as he mockingly cooed, "Good, Igor. Very good."

  
Voldemort stood and walked back towards Harry as he asked, "I assume Durmstrang is still a supporter for the Dark?"

  
"Yes, m-m-my lord." Karkaroff replied, standing on wobbly legs, "D-Durmstrang s-still lends a helping hand to all Dark wizards and witches."

  
"Would they be able to forge school records?" Voldemort asked as he sat on the other armchair, next to Harry. Harry turned his head tiredly to stare at Voldemort.

  
"O-of course, my lord." Karkaroff replied, "Durmstrang prides itself in its secrecy above all else. We can forge school records and get in contact with a few graduates who would be more than willing to state that they did go to class with that certain individual."

  
Harry raised an eyebrow at that and Voldemort answered Harry's silent question, "Durmstrang had always been an institution that helps Dark wizards and witches, even those who are not graduates of their school. Durmstrang prides itself as a supporter and a protector of all Dark wizards and witches. Even during my first war, Durmstrang was one of my most loyal secret supporters. They provided information all around the world as well as delivered certain dark artifacts that helped our cause. They also provided funds through Gringotts."

  
"Wicked..." Harry tiredly commented, making Voldemort scoff.

  
"Yes, I suppose it would be." Voldemort turned to face Karkaroff and ordered, "I'm entrusting you in making such records exist as soon as possible then, Igor."

  
Voldemort opened his hand, palm up, and a parchment floated out of Harry's messenger bag. It floated towards Voldemort's open palm and Voldemort gripped it lightly. He stood and walked toward Karkaroff, offering the piece of rolled parchment to the twitching man as he stated, "All of the necessary information are in this parchment. Any other missing information you might need, send a message using one of your students to Harry, preferably your champion since he already seems fond of my dear Harry."

  
Krum was...?

  
No use. Harry was too tired to try and analyze his past meetings with the Bulgarian seeker.

  
Karkaroff bowed as he accepted the parchment, "Yes, my l-lord."

  
Voldemort grabbed Karkaroff's arm and Karkaroff let out a pained scream as his Mark burned. Voldemort leaned closer towards Karkaroff and hissed, "Take this as your only warning, Igor. Any more signs of betrayal and I will use you as Harry's practice dummy for his Crucio. I know you would not wish to feel such a freezing Crucio again. Do not even think about contacting Snape or any of the other Death Eaters. As far as everyone is concern, you are still a pathetic traitorous rat. Do I make myself clear, Igor?"

  
"Y-y-yes, m-my lord!" Karkaroff replied as he began to tremble. Voldemort let go of Karkaroff and the headmaster fell to his knees, breathing heavily as he held his burning Mark.

  
"I will contact you again soon, Igor." Voldemort said and walked towards Harry before adding, "It would be to the best of your interest to finish all the necessary paperwork before I do."

  
"Th-thank you for your m-mercy, m-my lord." Karkaroff whimpered, "I-I live to s-serve you."

  
Voldemort offered his hand towards Harry who took it. Voldemort pulled Harry back to his feet and the boy began swaying but managed to keep his balance. Knowing that Harry was too... tired, Voldemort sighed and waved the holly wand towards the book Harry had been reading. The book began to float towards Harry's messenger bag which opened by itself. Just as the book was placed back in the bag, Karkaroff said, "I-I have a message f-from the Bulgarian Ministry of Magic, m-my lord..."

  
Voldemort turned to look at Karkaroff and let Harry lean onto him, holding Voldemort's arm to keep his balance as he blinked tiredly. Karkaroff lowered his head as he explained, "The m-ministry have been informed of the gradual darkening of my Mark and they had given me a message to pass to you if I ever come into your presence."

  
Voldemort frowned slightly.

  
He had forgotten to check Barty's Mark if it had darken, a sure sign of his return.

  
If it had, that would mean Snape's Mark had darken as well and... that snake had most definitely already told the old coot about his return, regardless if he was just a traitor or a double-agent.

  
Voldemort would have to prepare some kind of counter to that soon but, for now...

  
"And? What would that message be?" Voldemort demanded in annoyed tone.

  
Karkaroff went down on his knees and fearfully stared at Voldemort's eyes as he said, "I-I was instructed to show you the memory alone."

  
"Ah. As expected from a Dark wizard like your minister." Voldemort commented with a manic smirk. He turned to look at the sleepy wizard pretty much clinging onto him and cooed, "Harry, my dear, would you like to experience first hand what it would be like to forcibly enter one's mind?"

  
Harry blinked owlishly at him as he replied in a dreamy tone, "Mmmkay..."

  
“Normally, I could just do this without a wand and an incantation but for your sake, my dear, I shall do both.” Voldemort said, pulling Harry so that the boy would be standing in front of him.

  
  


“How very sweet of you, love tart.” Harry drawled tiredly, letting the older wizard place his wand in his hand.

  
  


“Pay attention, Harry, for this is one spell I think you would very much enjoy learning. “ Voldemort pressed his chest against Harry's back and covered the hand holding the wand with his larger hand. Voldemort kept their link open as he raised the holly wand, aiming it at Karkaroff who flinched unconsciously. Voldemort's lips curved into a sadistic smirk as he chanted, "Legilimens."

  
Harry's eyes widened as he was suddenly assaulted by memories not his own. He saw flashes of Karkaroff's memories and was fascinated when emotions not his own accompanied most of them. The sense of pride he had for Durmstrang itself had been a surprise for someone who never felt truly proud about anything such as Harry.

  
  


It felt like Voldemort was navigating through Karkaroff's memories and thoughts expertly, dragging Harry with him.

  
The flashes finally stopped as Voldemort focused on one memory. It was a memory of a man that seemed familiar to Harry for some reason. The memory was a bit hazy but Harry saw the man bow up to his waist before speaking in a low respective tone.

  
... in Bulgarian.

  
Harry felt Voldemort's amusement over Harry's plight and, had Harry not been so tired he could fall asleep right there and then, he would have used their mental link to... well, think of something. Unfortunately, all Harry could do was watch as the man continued to speak.

  
  


Whatever the man was saying, the only thing Harry got was the fact that his entire demeanor was respectful yet there seemed to be a hint of giddiness in this tone, as if he was trying very hard to appear serious when he seemed to want to smile at something.

  
The memory only lasted for around a minute or two and, before Harry knew it, his vision had returned to watching Karkaroff breathing heavily, perspiration falling from his brows.

  
"Is mind rape always that painful?" Harry asked tiredly and Voldemort honestly wanted to tell Harry to not call Legilimens something as crude as 'rape' but relented.

  
Instead he simply said, "It can be cast without pain or detection. I prefer not to in certain situations such as this. I find that pain helps ensure they're more... cooperative."

  
Harry giggled and leaned his head on Voldemort's arm as he commented lightly, "You're such a sadistic prat."

  
"Says the boy who had an orgasm casting Crucio." Voldemort retorted with a drawl.

  
Harry frowned and looked down before commenting, "No mess in my pants though."

  
At that crude comment, Voldemort definitely frowned. Rather than continuing this... vulgar conversation with a very tired Harry who had a looser tongue than usual, Voldemort said to Karkaroff, "I will contact the ministry soon. For now, tell them I... accept their generous offer."

  
"Yes, my lord. Thank you, my lord." Karkaroff immediately bowed till his forehead was touching the floor and Voldemort pushed Harry to walk by himself.

  
"Go and meet with your Bulgarian. He'll escort you back to the castle." Voldemort ordered Harry before casting all of his notice-me-not and disillusion charms.

  
"He's not mine..." Harry retorted in the same dreamy tone he had been using the entire time.

  
To make sure there was no record of the Crucios they had used on Karkaroff, Voldemort cast two Expecto Patronum with specific orders for both Barty and Luna and well as casting a Rennervate to Harry which only made the young wizard a little more attentive before casting charms he remembered learning in his third year in Hogwarts.

  
The aftereffect of the Dark Arts was rarely healed by Rennervate anyway.

  
At the very least, Harry looked like he could walk on his own now. He was still swaying slightly.

  
Voldemort took Harry's Invisibility Cloak and put it on before he led Harry by keeping his hand on his back. Harry walked out of the room, grinning as he waved back at Karkaroff, "It was nice getting to know you, Igor."

  
Karkaroff shivered uncontrollably at the hissing way Harry had said his name while Voldemort lightly tapped Harry's back and drawled, "Stop traumatizing my followers, dear."

  
Harry giggled lightly and walked towards Krum's door. He knocked twice before simply leaning on the door. Voldemort was about to warn the young Gryffindor on how foolishly dangerous it was to lean on the door when said door opened inward, making Harry fall.

  
Krum managed to catch Harry before he fell on the floor (for the second time in the same day). Krum cradled the smaller boy in his arms and Harry smiled dreamily at him (which reminded Voldemort of Luna) as he greeted, "Hello, Mister Krum. I'm ready to leave now."

  
Krum quickly examined Harry's body (for physical signs of injuries, Voldemort assumed) before asking, "Has Igor done something to you?"

  
"Hm?" Harry blinked owlishly at the question before grinning as he replied, "Oh no. Igor was simply..."

  
"Perrffecct." Harry practically purred which served to unnerve the Durmstrang champion and amuse Voldemort.

  
Voldemort observed Krum's eyes widened as he seemed to have come to a very, very grave misunderstanding.

  
"Did he... touch you?"

  
Dear Salazar...

  
Voldemort wasn't sure if he should get annoyed or laugh at Krum's conclusion.

  
"Touch me?" Harry seemed to ponder that question for a few seconds. Harry finally shook his head and replied, "No. There was no touching involve."

  
Harry shrugged as he added, "... with him anyway."

  
Voldemort covered his face with his palm as Harry remembered how Voldemort had held his hand and pretty much invaded his personal space while he was teaching the foolish Gryffindor how to successfully cast Crucio and showing him Legilimency.

  
Even Voldemort was surprised on how easy it had been to simply be close to the boy. He had always kept a distance with other people. Even back when he was Tom Riddle in Hogwarts and even when he had been teaching his favorites. He did have the habit of patting Barty's and Bella's head when they have managed to do something spectacular while he was teaching them.

  
But the closeness he had with Harry was the first time he had subconsciously invaded someone's personal space.

  
Voldemort stopped musing when he heard Krum exclaim, "There vos someone else in the room?!"

  
This was getting complicated...

  
"Mmhhmm." Harry's brows furrowed and he said dreamily, "I'm kinda tired now, Mister Krum. Could you please be a dear and escort me back to my cage?"

  
"Cage?" That caught Krum's attention. Harry nodded and waved his hand lazily.

  
"Onward, Ser Krum. Send me back to my tower!" Harry declared dramatically before giggling.

  
Voldemort mentally added 'Familiarize with Dark Arts Backslash' in his internal list of what his future consort needed to learn as soon as possible.

  
Krum reluctantly pulled Harry on his feet and helped the younger boy out of the ship, unsure on what else to do. Harry looked like he wasn't in his right mind right now which meant... well... Voldemort may have an idea on what Krum was thinking right now.

  
  


He just didn't care.

  
As Voldemort followed the two silently, he observed the Bulgarian seeker. If his memories were correct, he was the son of one of the higher ups in the Bulgarian Ministry of Magic.

  
Either the current minister was his uncle or his godfather...

  
He would have to order Barty to check.

  
Voldemort frowned when he remembered that Barty had his hands full just pretending to be Moody. He needed Barty to remain in Hogwarts for as long as Harry was staying. Barty was one of his most loyal and had already come to adore Harry. At the very least, Barty knew that displeasing Harry would displease Voldemort.

  
... and that was because their minds were connected and Harry would most definitely show his displeasure to Voldemort which will annoy Voldemort and make his life unbearable. Merlin forbid, he might unleash mini-Walburga once more...

  
Yes... that was the only reason for that.

  
  


Voldemort needed another loyal follower.

  
Someone who could frequently contact Wormtail in person and get his wand (as well as Nagini, perhaps?)...

  
But who?

  
Lucius was out of the question.

  
He was too fickle and Voldemort was still in a very compromising position. Lucius would find some way to turn this situation into his favor, to get some leverage against Voldemort.

  
Oh. Lucius would not betray him. Not fully anyway. But he was a Slytherin who valued his own and his family's self-preservation most.

  
And inviting Lucius would just be the same as inviting mini-Walburga...

  
Harry would definitely throw a fit. His displeasure over the Malfoys was so deep Voldemort wondered what in seven hells the two male Malfoys had done just to get in Harry's bad side this deep.

  
Even that pathetic Weasley who had betrayed Harry had only been left with an apathetic resignation from his future consort.

  
But Draco Malfoy?

  
Oh, just catching the Malfoy heir staring at him would make Harry feel so annoyed he wanted to curse and hex the oblivious boy to oblivion.

  
Remembering Draco Malfoy brought other heirs of pure-blood families in his mind.

  
Crabbe and Goyle were out of the question.

  
Not only were they too eager at times to prove themselves, their children were... using Snape's vocabulary, dunderheads.

  
He could just see Harry ordering them to do the silliest and most embarrassing things simply because he could.

  
The Zabini heir was also out of the question.

  
His mother had remained neutral during the first war, sleeping her way through Dark, Light and Grey wizards without a care in the current affairs of the war. Voldemort's observation of her son did not bode well with Harry's personality. While Harry would simply be annoyed by the Slytherin's obvious interest, the Zabini boy seemed to have gotten his mother's stubborn personality. That could only lead to someone getting hurt... most probably the Zabini heir.

  
The same could also apply to the Greengrass heiress.

  
The heiress herself seem to be no problem. His brief observation of her made him conclude she seemed like a perfect pure-blood daughter. His link with Harry also provided Voldemort with Harry's thoughts of her. In summary? She seemed alright. She kept to herself and never joined Draco in chiding him ever. She would simply silently watch him, never interfering. That made Harry's impression as... amicable. It was her family which was the problem. Her family had remained neutral just like the Zabini head although they had provided information to his side through Lucius. Last he had heard, there had been negotiations of arranging marriage between Draco and their oldest daughter. Considering how the oldest daughter seemed closer to the Zabini heir and it's the Parkinson heiress who seemed close to Draco, perhaps the negotiation had gone nowhere? Regardless, the Greengrass family was never truly loyal to him and their closeness with the Malfoys may lead to some unforeseen complications.

  
The Parkinson heiress...

  
Voldemort would rather not traumatize the poor girl with his future consort's silver tongue. He had seen and felt how annoyed Harry became whenever his eyes would glance at her. It wasn't as deep as his annoyance with the Malfoy heir but it was still there. Why though... Voldemort really didn't know.

  
It wasn't like Harry liked making internal monologues about how he felt for every single person in the room with him.

  
His internal monologues are mostly about the most random thing he could think of.

  
That left...

  
Voldemort's lips curved into a triumphant smirk as he remembered the last Slytherin heir who seemed to be interested in Harry.

  
A flash of an eleven years old boy wearing Slytherin robes brightly smiling as he stared at him with awe and revere appeared on Voldemort's mind.

  
Yes...

  
He would be perfect.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeeaahh. I am still stabbing your kokoros with mentions of diary!Hocrux. XD
> 
> Oh boy.
> 
> The Crucio scene was... uuhhh... totally unexpected. Voldemort just... became sadistic... Honestly, I don't know why it came to be like that. (and the reason why I said his was going to be darker than usual) XD
> 
> Yeah. Seriously.


	9. The Oddity That is Harry Potter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A few people tell their side of the story about what is happening

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning:  
> 1 unbeta'ed as usual  
> 2 more headcanons for Voldemort's Death Eaters (sorta) and some other characters  
> 3 obviously, this is more like a series of disjointed short stories (like the previous 'Champion chapter')  
> 4 Again, Harry does not like the Malfoys  
> 5 All except one part is set in the title character's POV... (sorry for the confusion TTATT)  
> 6 More made-up magic stuff  
> 7 I pretty much messed up the Hogsmeade trip dates...
> 
> Just a heads up. Next chapter is also a series of disjointed short stories.
> 
> IMPORTANT NOTE: My work is taking up most of my time (all my weekdays and most of my weekends) and it’s really, really bad (overworked and underpaid with no escape until October). The only reason I managed to even post this is because of the holidays. I have no idea if I can make the usual every week update. The most I can probably promise is once a month. I’m terribly sorry for this, guys, and I hope you bear with me until… well… until I can finally quit the hell I call my job. TTATT
> 
> For more information of the update schedule, please see the bio of my profile.

==============The Interest of Viktor Krum ==============

The morning had started out strange.

Everyone had seen how twitchy their headmaster was. They had seen how his movements were sluggish and, quite frankly, weak looking.

As a student of a magical institution that does not shy away from teaching the Dark Arts, everyone knew only one curse to have such a severe side-effect on someone like their headmaster.

The Cruciatus Curse...

He had heard the whispers of his fellow schoolmates. They were all wondering who could have cast an Unforgivable here in their ship while they were near a Light supporter country like Britain.

Of course, their ship was considered Bulgarian territory so Magical Britain could not do anything in incidents occurring in their ship but they were not even sure if it did happen in their ship in the first place. It seemed highly unlikely someone would cast such a Dark Art in Hogwarts territory. It would be too risky.

That meant that their headmaster most probably got attacked either in their ship or in the Beauxbatons' territory.

… But surely they would have heard something from Beauxbatons or the French Ministry of Magic since, while Beauxbatons do have a Grey-based curriculum, the French Ministry of Magic have been becoming more Light-based since the fall of Voldemort.

The thought of the most feared Dark Lord brought Krum's thoughts back to the boy who had tricked him into giving passage to their ship yesterday.

Harry Potter...

Could he have...

No. That would be ridiculous.

The Magical World's saviour? The vanquisher of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named?

Performing the Cruiciatus curse?

Ridiculous!

But...

Krum had noticed some inconsistencies in the boy.

He would appear to be quite meek and seemed more inclined to follow his fellow lions before his name came out of the goblet.

He had also appeared frightened and lost when he was announced as the fourth champion.

That's when the inconsistencies started appearing.

Krum and the rest of his schoolmates had seen how Hogwarts students had shun the meek fourth year. They were disgusted by the lack of unity of their school.

And they call themselves the Light?

In Durmstrang, each student was taught of the prejudice of the Light. As a Dark-based institution, Durmstrang taught every student to trust and support one another for the only one who had the back of a Dark wizard or witch was his or her fellow Dark wizard or witch.

And here was the supposed saviour, being scorned by the people he had saved.

It was disgusting.

Of course, they kept their distance. It was not their place to stand against Hogwarts. Any misconduct from their part could be mistaken as a deliberate act of offense to Magical Britain by Magical Bulgaria. That would be unacceptable.

But still... Krum could not keep his eyes away from Harry Potter.

There was something about him that just... made Krum turn his head whenever they were in the same room.

That's how he noticed the inconsistencies of Harry Potter.

After a few days of being scorn by almost everyone, the fourteen years old boy's demeanour slightly shifted. His expression that used to hold some kind of shyness now sported an almost stone cold expression. His eyes which were once bright and curious now seemed bored and disinterested. He now held himself in a calm stiff composure.

It was... strange...

Krum wondered if this was the real Harry Potter and the meek boy he had seen before was just a ruse.

Or was this the new Harry Potter, created by the scorn and shun of his fellow schoolmates?

The inconsistencies grew bigger after the publishing of Rita Skeeter's interview of him.

His eyes grew harder and, when Krum see him stare at anyone, they held a cold detached look. When he was insulted, Krum and his other schoolmates could feel the magic shift in the air and they didn't know if they wanted to kneel or to run away.

He had heard stories from his father about Voldemort. His father, as part of the Bulgarian Ministry of Magic, had met the Dark Lord more than once. He had described the magic shifting in the air whenever Voldemort entered a room. It was so alluring and strong that it took all of their willpower to not submit and kneel.

It was strange to think that the supposed vanquisher of the Dark Lord would make Krum feel how his father had described his own experience with the said Dark Lord.

Then... Harry Potter started disappearing for long periods of time.

He no longer came to the Great Halls to eat any meals. He no longer visited the library. The only time Krum would see him was when their paths would intersect while the boy was going to class or getting out of a classroom.

It was only a few days that he saw Harry Potter in the library once more. He saw him as he held so many books in his arms. He only caught the titles of a few and they were about Wizarding Traditions and Etiquette.

Krum's breathing stopped when the younger boy smiled at him.

There was something different about the boy.

His eyes had softened. They still held a kind of bored stare but they were... more human, almost as if the boy was finally enjoying something.

His posture was more relaxed yet Krum could see the confidence in the younger boy's shoulders.

The magic around him was... darker. There was something definitely different about it, something foreign, yet the boy seemed more relaxed, more carefree in the darker magic around him than Krum had ever seen.

But that smile...

It was strange.

It was just as strange as the shy crooked smile Harry Potter used to make.

That angelic smile he gave Krum was just as strange.

It didn't... seem right...

It put Krum on edge.

“Viktor...”

Krum stopped his musing and turned his body to face the one who called him. Igor walked towards him, trying to hide the obvious painful aftereffect of the Cruiciatus curse. Igor stopped right in front of him and asked, “Will you be able to pass a message to Harry Potter on my behalf?”

Krum kept his expression blank while he was burning curiously inside.

“I can try.” Krum replied with a small nod.

Igor frowned and said, “It is of great importance that you pass this message to him as soon as possible...”

That only made Krum more curious but he only said, “I vill try my best.”

“Thank you, Viktor.”

The look of pure relief in his headmaster's face only fuelled the oddity that is Harry Potter in Krum's mind.

==============The Dilemma of Hermione Granger ==============

Hermione was worried.

She was extremely, almost illogically worried.

She was worried about Ron. She knew that the red head was having doubts, knew he was in the wrong, but he kept clinging stubbornly to his pride.

And that pride caused a gap between her two best friends.

It had happened the morning after Harry's name came out of the goblet. She noticed Ron and Harry were not sitting together. Harry was sitting with Neville while Ron was sitting between Seamus and Dean. She had sat next to Harry and had seen the look of hurt and sadness in Ron's face that just stabbed her heart.

That's when she made the decision to stay with Ron instead of Harry.

It had been foolish, now that Hermione thought about it.

She had expected Harry to be okay, expected Neville to be there for Harry while she comforted Ron.

Ron had always been the most emotional one, the most immature one, the... one who needed her most.

Harry had shown he was more than capable in taking care of himself.

Hermione had been close with Harry long enough to know that the boy was only mediocre because he didn't apply himself enough. He was lazy. Not the same laziness Ron had that needed to be chided and annoyed to move but a certain... detached laziness that both worried and unnerved Hermione.

Sometimes, she didn't know how to talk to Harry.

She felt as if Harry wasn't really Harry which was ridiculous when she phrased it like that.

It was like...

The Harry Ron and the rest of the school believed they knew wasn't really the real Harry. There were some parts which was real. The mischievous smirks Harry would have when he would be suggesting pranks to Fred and George were real. The elated almost manic smile he had when he was flying a broom was real. The pursed lips and furrowed brows he would always have when he was revising for exams were real. The soft fond smile that briefly appear on Harry's lips while he was writing on the black diary he found back when they were in second year had been real.

Hermione wondered if Tom Riddle's diary had more effect on her best friend than she had thought.

Hermione wasn't sure if Harry was changing or simply showing his real self during the end of their second year. He was still the kind sweet shy boy she met but there was... a certain darkness in him that Hermione couldn't fully comprehend. A part of her was disgusted to think that the darkness she saw is the real Harry. She felt disgusted that she would rather have Harry have a dark side than believe that Harry was pure.

Hermione just couldn't accept that Harry was truly a shy naive boy who saw the goodness in everything and wanted to be good.

It seemed so... unreal.

And it disgusted Hermione how she wished that the darkness that was slowly appearing on her best friend is truly the real him.

It made him... more human.

But what did that make Hermione?

She couldn't fully accept a martyr child who had held his hand out and became her first friend yet she could fully accept a boy who seemed to have a detached look on the world around him and wouldn't look at her twice.

She had read enough books to know that wasn't a good thought.

She was simply overthinking things, she would tell herself.

Then... she saw Harry with that blonde Ravenclaw.

Ron had thrown a fit when he saw both her and Ginny look at the pair with devastation in their eyes. Ron had thought Hermione wanted to be with Harry and that wasn't a lie. She wanted to be with both Ron and Harry, her two best friends.

Ginny had looked devastated because she still had a crush on Harry, everybody knew that. She had spent weeks looking for him when he started disappearing for long periods of time. More than once, Hermione would see her just standing outside the girls' bathroom leading to the Chambers of Secrets.

Hermione wondered if Ginny was standing because she thought Harry would be in the Chambers or if she wished the diary would be in her arms to guide her and help her search for Harry.

If anyone was smart enough to find Harry, it would be Tom Riddle.

She knew Ginny kept her distance from Harry ever since the Chambers because, more than once, she would slip and call Harry 'Tom'. She would look so embarrassed and afraid that she would run away.

She never saw how Harry's eyes turned sad, how his fists clenched and a bitter smile briefly appear on his face.

But Hermione did...

She had seen the painful look Harry would always make when that happens. She never understood if it was because Ginny saw the diary and not him or it was because Ginny reminded him of the diary he had also talked to for more than a few months.

Hermione had been so worried about him but Harry always seemed to be alright after a few seconds then everything would return to normal like nothing was wrong from the very beginning.

Hermione had thought Harry was strong, stronger than both her and Ron.

That's why she thought Harry would be alright without her, that Ron needed her to see that he's being an idiot and everything will be fine again.

But... it didn't...

Harry stopped coming to the Great Halls, kept to himself and even kept his distance from Neville who didn't push, didn't know how to push. The support of the lion's den had dimmed, turned into a distant observation over the quiet boy. Hermione couldn't fault them. Harry had seemed so unapproachable, so... so...

… Different...

When she saw him in the library again after so long, her eyes watered and she couldn't move. Harry looked so different. He still looked the same, appearance-wise, but the way he held himself with such bored confidence, the way his face was relaxed yet held no emotions whatsoever, the way he stared at her in a curious yet detached way...

It made Hermione wants to cry and scream.

She wanted to scream at herself for thinking that the Harry in front of him, not the kind shy boy she had always known, seemed more real, more... human...

She wanted to cry because she couldn't find the words to talk to him anymore. She didn't know this Harry, didn't know how she would react if she would approach him. The previous Harry would have been crossed but he would have forgiven her in the end but this Harry?

She didn't know...

She just didn't know...

That's why she had been devastated with the closeness the blonde Ravenclaw and this new Harry.

The younger girl always waited for Harry to go down ever since two days ago and they would walk together to their classes. Sometimes she would walk Harry to class, other times Harry would do the same. She would always wait for Harry's classes to finish if she got out before him. If Harry did... one way or another, the young girl seemed to be able to find Harry and they would be seen together.

She almost had the courage to go towards them this morning when but stopped when she saw Krum walk towards the two. Her blood turn cold when she saw the amused smile on Harry's face as he listened to what Krum was saying to him and she wondered if she and Ron had been replaced by the Bulgarian seeker and the younger Ravenclaw.

She wanted to be there with them, wanted to talk to Harry, wanted to know what he was thinking, how he was feeling.

Harry was her first friend. Ron had tagged along when Harry went to save her. Harry was the one who offered his friendship to her.

Even if it was just a lie or if it was just a whim, Harry still held a hand towards her and, for that, the raven haired boy would always hold a special place in her heart.

She wanted to know the real him... or the new him... whoever was in front of her right now, whoever was the real Harry Potter, she wanted to know him, wanted to be near him.

But... would he want her back?

==============The Embarrassment of Bartemius Crouch Junior ==============

"Why are you so loyal to Tom anyway?"

  
Barty and his lord stopped eating at the sudden question from the young Gryffindor, both of them raising their head to stare (Barty) or glare (his lord) at Little Lord. They had begun eating dinner in Barty's quarters after that fateful night Barty was reunited with his restored lord and met his lord's... fiancé...?

  
Barty was still trying to wrap his head around the fact that his lord's fiancé was a fourteen year old Gryffindor.

  
Bella would probably lose consciousness because she laughed too much when she hears about this.

  
His lord had returned to eating once more, not paying attention to the question posed by his future consort. Barty stared at the Little Lord who stared back at him as he ate a spoonful of oatmeal drenched in milk and honey.

Why he was eating oatmeal for dinner... Barty didn't really ask.

  
"I..." Barty couldn't find the proper words to describe his loyalty to his lord. No one had ever bothered to ask him such a thing.

  
Little Lord still looked like he was waiting for an answer as he ate another spoonful of oatmeal.

  
Luna put her stripes of chicken on Little Lord's plate which made his lord look up and scold with a hiss, "Don't give him more meat, foolish girl. You're spoiling him."

  
Little Lord rolled his eyes and retorted, "It's just a few stripes. It's not like it's going to make me a bloody balloon."

  
Little Lord stopped and grinned while his lord furrowed his brows. His lord raised an eyebrow at Little Lord and asked, "You inflated a muggle?"

  
"Oh yeah. That one was fun." Little Lord replied with a grin.

  
Barty turned to look at the blonde Ravenclaw for more information who simply mouthed the words 'mental link' to him. He had been briefed about how his lord and Little Lord were now mentally linked and all of Little Lord's thoughts were transmitted to his lord.

  
Did that mean that Little Lord had inflated a muggle before?

  
That sounded like something Rabastian and Rodolphus would do...

  
"I wonder what would happen if she had been popped while inflated..." Little Lord mused in a sing-song tone, grinning maliciously as he wondered, "I mean, would she just lose all air and become flat or would she blow up? And if she did blow up..."

  
Little Lord's grin turned more sadistic as he continued, "Would she blow up like a balloon and just pop out air and skin or would she pop out blood, guts and faecal matter?"

  
And now that sounded like something Bella would enjoy finding out.

  
His lord placed his hand over his mouth thoughtfully and stared at the cranberry jam on the table.

  
Barty suddenly wanted to push the cranberry jam far away from him.

  
"It sounds like an interesting experiment." His lord finally said, earning a bright enthusiastic grin from Little Lord. His lord turned to stare at Little Lord and suggested, "Perhaps we can try it on your aunt once we're out of here."

  
Luna turned towards his lord to remind him sternly, "After the baby is born."

  
His lord nodded and agreed, "Of course."

  
"Oooohh. That sounds like a fun field trip." Little Lord commented gleefully before adding, "I've only gotten a bunny to explode."

  
"You... got a bunny to explode?" Barty repeated.

  
Oh Merlin...

  
Bella was so going to like Little Lord...

  
Little Lord nodded and turned towards Barty to answer him, "Yup. It was my second year and the bunny exploded all over me. I think I had brain matter on my hair..."

  
Barty's jaw slacked and his lord raised an eyebrow. He turned to look at Little Lord and asked, "You transfigured a rabbit from an apple?"

  
"I tried..." Little Lord corrected before shrugging as he explained, "The bunny exploded an hour later though and all the guts and blood turned to apple mush after a minute or two."

  
"Impressive." His lord commented, rubbing his chin as he mused, "Even without the proper training or knowledge, you were able to control your magic to change the composition of an apple to a rabbit. The rabbit exploding could easily be because you could not control your magic for a long period of time to sustain the rabbit's form."

  
His lord smirked and suggested, "Perhaps we should focus on training you to control your magic."

  
"Oh?" Little Lord tilted his head to the side as a response.

  
Barty's lips curved into a Cheshire grin as he said enthusiastically, "My Lord is truly a splendid professor! I have learned most of what I know from him."

  
Both Little Lord and Luna turned to stare at him, silently observing him before turning to look at one another. Luna leaned forward till her face was just inches away from Little Lord's ear. She raised her hand to cover her lips and Little Lord's ear and seemed to whisper something in his ear.

  
Little Lord's eyebrow rose and he asked Barty, "You think of Tom as a father figure?"

  
Barty's cheeks flushed as his lord ordered in an annoyed clipped tone, "Stop calling me that."

  
"Oh, come on. Voldemort is such a mouth full." Little Lord whined, waving his spoon at his lord's direction as he said, "Just think about it, Tom-"

  
His lord raised his head to glare at Little Lord as the younger wizard continued, "It's just too much of a mouthful to moan 'Voldemort' when we do shag."

  
Barty choked on his own spit and Luna raised her head to stare at the ceiling with the same dreamy expression she always had. She tilted her head slightly to the side and hummed.

  
"Then shout 'My Lord' instead." His lord suggested in a deadpan tone.

  
"Really?" Little Lord raised an eyebrow and reminded his lord, "Isn't that a bit..."

  
Little Lord shrugged as he continued while playing with the rest of his oat meal, "... impersonal? I mean... we would be a married couple by then..."

  
"Call me Marvolo then." His lord suggested with a low growl.

  
"That's as long as Voldemort." Little Lord whined which only made his lord glare at him. Little Lord grinned as he suggested, "Voldie?"

  
"No."

  
"Marvy?"

  
"No."

  
"Tommy."

  
"No."

  
"Love Tart."

  
All three males stared at Luna. Luna lowered her head and smiled dreamily at Little Lord who grinned at her. Little Lord turned to grin at his lord and opened his mouth.

  
"Call me 'Tom'." His lord relented with gritted teeth. His lord glared at the two students who high-fived one another. His lord sighed tiredly and rubbed his forehead as he hissed, "You are a menace, Harry Potter."

  
Little Lord grinned at him before turning towards Barty and asked playfully, "Soooo... this guy? A father figure?"

  
Barty could only cover his face.

============== The Break Down of Theodore Nott==============

"<<I am totally against this. >>" Harry hissed as he reluctantly walked towards the seven fourth years currently talking at the hallway. Why they were talking in the hallway, Harry did not know nor did he care. What matters was that he wanted nothing more but to turn around and return to Barty's personal quarters, sit on the comfortable transfigured couch and laze around while listening to his fiancé (still sounds weird in his mind) order Barty to do something or just start writing in a random parchment about Merlin knows what.

Why Voldemort had to decide that he should speak to baby snakes now after dinner and not... ooohhh... Tomorrow, perhaps?

  
"<<Enough stalling. Just get him away from the rest and drag him to Barty's quarters. >>" Voldemort hissed from his right side, still using Harry's cloak.

  
Harry groaned and whined, "<<Can't we wait until he's alone? >>"

  
"<<Slytherins are never alone. >>" Voldemort hissed, "<<Especially an heir like him. >>"

  
"<<You so owe me two treacle tarts for this. >>" Harry hissed back.

  
"<<Oh, for the love of Merlin. It's just seven children! >>" Voldemort hissed back and Harry rolled his eyes.

  
"<<Seven baby snakes, Tom. I'm going to talk to seven baby snakes that have never stopped annoying and insulting me since I got sorted to Gryffindor at the end of dinner time, in front of many eyewitnesses. I want two treacle tarts for dinner tomorrow! >>" Harry hissed before smiling at the seven Slytherins as he stopped right in front of them. Harry made sure to smile pleasantly, thinking of the two treacle tarts, as he greeted in English, "Salutation, my fellow Hogwarts students! A pleasant day to all of you..."

  
Harry nodded at the dark skinned Slytherin, "Zabini."

  
Blaise looked amused as he nodded at him and greeted back, "Potter."

Harry nodded at the dark haired Slytherin, “Nott.”

Theodore nodded back and warily greeted, “Potter...”

  
Harry bowed, remembering it as one of the traditional pure-blood ways of greeting a lady (the other way was to grab her hand and kiss her knuckles which Harry didn't want to do because he had a feeling it might make the other spectators think he was going Dark), as he greeted, "Lady Greengrass."

  
Daphne raised an eyebrow but curtsied as she greeted back politely, "Sir Potter."

  
Harry nodded at Pansy and said, "Pug-face."

  
He felt Voldemort's annoyance through their link while Pansy spluttered, obviously surprised by the sudden insult. He still remembered how Pansy was more or less a female Crabbe/Goyle (in other words a Malfoy minion). At least Zabini, Greengrass and Nott seemed more like their own person than a Malfoy groupie. The rest of the Slytherins were either amused (Blaise, Daphne and Theodore) or surprised (Malfoy and his cronies).

  
Speaking of which...

"Malfoy minion A, Malfoy minion B." Harry nodded at Crabbe and Goyle (or was it Goyle and Crabbe?) before turning to look at Malfoy and greeted, "Daddy's boy."

  
"How dare you-"

  
"Theodore, can I have a moment of your time?" Harry cut Malfoy off, smiling pleasantly at Theodore.

  
Theodore blinked at him, obviously surprised by the request and the sudden use of his first name, while Malfoy hissed, "Listen here, Potter. If you think I will just lie-"

  
"Oh, do your father a favour and shut up, Baby Malfoy." Harry hissed back, glaring at Malfoy. Harry sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose as he ranted, “I don't want to deal with you. I don't want to deal with your Daddy dearest but, unfortunately, I will have to deal with him because he has been kissing so many arses I won't be surprise if your mother doesn't want to kiss him anymore.”

He noticed the annoying pin on his robes and rolled his eyes before mocking, "And you're still wearing that childish pin? Honestly, if Salazar was alive, he would be so embarrassed that you're all Slytherins."

  
"How dare y-"

  
Harry placed his hand over the pin and focused his magic at the tip of his fingers. He tapped his forefinger against the cold metallic surface of the pin and hissed softly so no one would hear him, “<<Change to my will. >>”

Harry grinned as he said, "There. Much better."

  
Instead of the childish "Potter sucks" writing, the pin now displayed "The Dark Lord has foot fetish".

Merlin...

He loved Parselmagic.

  
Malfoy paled at the words while Theodore's eyes widened. All of the other pins had the same changes which made Daphne and Blaise look impressed while Pansy looked annoyed. Crabbe and Goyle (or Goyle and Crabbe, seriously, there's a reason why Harry called them minion A and B) looked confused at the changes.

  
Harry grinned wider when he felt Voldemort's annoyance and amusement through their link.

  
Blaise stared at his own pin and commented, "Impressive. A nonverbal and wandless magic manipulation... and to change every single pin instead of only Malfoy's. I suppose you're not just a mediocre waste of space like your ginger best mate."

  
Harry shrugged and looked at his fingernails as he said, "Please. As if Malfoy's childish charm would be a challenge for me to manipulate."

… with Parselmagic...

  
"Childi-"

  
"So, Theodore. A word?" Harry cut Malfoy once more, grinning at Theodore.

  
"I suppose..." Theodore seemed reluctant, staring at his own pin.

  
"Fantastic!" Harry grinned as he grabbed Theodore by the arm. Harry nodded at Blaise, "Zabini."

  
"Potter." Blaise nodded back and smirked as he said, "I would be honoured if you would also spare me a moment of your time as well."

  
Harry shrugged and replied, "Maybe. Who knows. Maybe you'll be useful as well. If it was up to me, I'd rather stay far away from you baby snakes."

  
Blaise raised an eyebrow at Harry's words but Harry simply bowed at the amused girl next to him as he greeted, "Lady Greengrass."

  
"Sir Potter." Daphne nodded, still looking amused at her own pin, "Perhaps an afternoon tea with me and Zabini would be more to your liking?"

  
Harry hummed and said cheerfully, "If there are treacle tarts, I might find the time."

  
Daphne smirked as she replied, "I will hold you to that, Sir Potter."

  
Harry grinned at her before nodding at Pansy and saying, "Pug-face."

  
Not waiting for Pansy to be able to say something coherent, Harry turned towards Malfoy's goons (Harry have given up trying to remember who is who), "Malfoy minion A, minion B."

  
Harry patted Malfoy on the arm as he greeted, "Daddy's Boy."

  
Malfoy opened his mouth, most probably to insult Harry, but Harry beat him to it, "Well, as nice as it was to pretend I enjoy the company of Malfoy and his goons... Although, I guess I wouldn't mind the company of you, Zabini, and you as well, Lady Greengrass... seriously, treacle tarts would be appreciated. I must bid you all adieu and borrow Theodore for a while. I promise I will give him back to you baby snakes before curfew... hopefully..."

  
"Well, bye now!" Harry grinned and dragged Theodore away from the rest of the Slytherins. When they were about to turn to a corner, Harry turned back and reminded Malfoy, "Oh! Better find a way to change the pins back, Malfoy. He'll probably Crucio you and your father if he finds out you announced to the entire school that he has a foot fetish!"

  
Harry grinned when he saw Malfoy pale so bad he looked like a corpse. Harry began dragging Theodore towards the personal quarters of the Defence of the Dark Arts professor, humming softly.

  
"Potter... where are you taking me?" Theodore asked, trying to keep up with Harry's brisk walking.

  
Harry smiled innocently at him and replied sweetly, "Oh, I'm just dragging you to an empty classroom where I can torture you for information before killing you and dumping your corpse somewhere then framing Malfoy to take the fall."

  
Theodore raised an eyebrow as he argued, "Oh? But people saw you dragging me."

  
"Ah, yes." Harry nodded as they stopped in front of a door, keeping his voice pleasant as he argued back, "But that's where my awesome acting comes into play. I'll act that you and I have been having an illicit affair and I will be the distraught boy who had fallen in love with you but, alas, our love is not meant to be!"

  
"A what?!" Harry grinned when he heard the slight high-pitched tone in Theodore's voice.

  
"Yes." Harry opened the door to Barty's (officially Moody's) private quarters before he announced dramatically, "A forbidden love between the saviour of the Wizarding World and a well-known Dark Wizard! Oh, the tragedy!"

  
Barty who had been grading paper on his desk (and was still Polyjuice-ed to look like Moody) and Luna who had been reading the Quibbler raised their head to look at the door. Harry dragged the bewildered (and slightly frightened) Theodore into the room and he felt Voldemort closed the door behind them. Barty raised an eyebrow and deadpanned, "Are we announcing your engagement, Little Lord?"

  
"Engagement?!" Theodore's voice cracked at the middle of the word, making Harry grin wider.

  
"Why not? It will be a tale of a star crossed lover that will make Romeo and Juliet weep in jealousy." Harry announced, moving away from Theodore and grabbing Luna. Luna smiled dreamily and let Harry drag her to a silent waltz as he announced, "For there was no greater tragedy than the story of the Boy-Who-Lived and his Dark Wizard."

  
Harry grinned at Luna as he commented, "I'm sure the Wizarding World would appreciate a better love story that will put Muggle literature to shame."

  
"Romeo and Juliet?" Barty repeated, looking at the frozen Theodore with amusement.

  
"A Muggle play about two star crossed lovers." Voldemort summarized, taking the cloak off. Theodore made a sound that reminded Harry of a squirrel and Barty knelt.

  
"My Lord." Barty greeted with revere while Theodore quickly knelt as well, choking a sound that Harry supposed was an attempt to say 'My Lord' but came out sounding like a dying squirrel.

  
Voldemort walked towards the two dancing students and grabbed Harry by the waist. Luna stepped away and curtsied while Harry let Voldemort lead him to a silent Waltz once more.

  
For some reason, Voldemort seemed keened on dancing with Harry ever since that afternoon they first had an impromptu Waltz in the hallway. Voldemort raised an eyebrow as he reminded Harry, "Juliet and Romeo died in the end."

  
"Yes they did." Harry replied as Voldemort twirled him, grinning as he said, "Well, in my scenario, Theodore does die because of Malfoy's bitter anger."

  
Theodore looked ready to vomit and pass out as he stared at the two of them dancing, probably thinking Harry was serious about the whole killing Theodore thing.

  
Voldemort rolled his eyes and pushed Harry away. Harry fell on his favourite armchair and happily lazed around, grinning at Voldemort. Voldemort sighed and asked, "Will you be trying to traumatize all my followers like this? Barty is still traumatized over your teasing."

  
Barty shivered at the reminder while Harry continued to grin as he said, "Probably. Your followers are soooo easy to frighten. You'd think they were sorted to Hufflepuff from the way they react."

“Plus...” Harry's grin grew larger as he said, “I do make a believable Voldemort. I can be your Mini-mort.”

Barty tried to stifle his chuckling and Luna giggled. Voldemort rolled his eyes once more before turning to face Barty and Theodore, ordering them, "Rise."

  
Barty and Theodore mumbled their gratitude. Barty returned to grading the assignments he had given the second years and Theodore stood where Harry had left him, staring at the floor with a forced calm expression on his face. Voldemort sat on the other armchair and crossed his left leg over his right while Luna sat on the floor, next to Harry's left leg. She opened the Quibbler once more and began reading while Voldemort asked, "How is the standing of the Nott family in the Wizarding World?"

  
Theodore gulped and said hesitantly, "M-my father is still a respected Lord, My Lord. He still eagerly awaits your return and would have searched for you had it not been... for my mother's untimely death..."

  
Voldemort frowned at that and Harry raised an eyebrow as he asked, "So, Nott is one of your favourites?"

  
"Theonel Nott was one of my first Death Eaters. Before that, he was part of my Knights of Walpurgis back in Hogwarts together with Abraxas Malfoy, Lucius' father." Voldemort admitted, "He had always been one of the more... vocal members of my Inner Circle. Had it not been for his wife, I'm sure he would have happily proclaimed his loyalty to me unlike Lucius."

  
Theodore's knuckles became white but he remained silent. Harry smiled playfully as he drawled, "Ooohhh, you like him. Even after he denied his allegiance to you, you still like him."

  
"Of course I like him. Why else do you think I would choose his son instead of the Malfoy heir?" Voldemort scoffed, rolling his eyes.

  
Theodore's eyes widened at those words and he raised his head to stare at Voldemort with wide surprised eyes.

  
"And here I thought you didn't pick Malfoy because you know how much I don't like him and his father." Harry drawled, turning to stare at Theodore as he added, "You break my heart, love tart."

  
"I do so enjoy hearing the pain in your voice, my dear." Voldemort deadpanned without missing a beat before asking Theodore, "And is he still quite well? Mulciber and Avery had always joked about his... weak stamina."

  
Theodore stared at them for a few seconds before finally finding his voice, "My father has been using a cane for five years now. But!"

Theodore knelt once more and proclaimed, "We still remain loyal to you, My Lord! Even now, my father awaits your triumphant return and will don his mask and your mark when you call! I have also been raised to carry his will and pledge my allegiance to you!"

  
Harry turned to look at Voldemort and commented, "I take it back. The Nott family is definitely your favourite."

  
Voldemort sighed and retorted, "The Nott family and the Lestranges family are one of my most loyal followers."

  
"The Lestranges are known to be crazy." Harry turned to ask Theodore, "Other than being stupid enough to follow this megalomaniac prat, would you say your father is of sound mind?"

  
"I..." Theodore seemed lost of words at Harry's casual insult and Voldemort's response of only rolling his eyes in resigned annoyance.

  
"Little Lord, I would also like to remind you that I am one of My Lord's faithful." Barty deadpanned, not even bothering to stop grading. Theodore turned his head so fast Harry swore he heard a bone crack.

  
"Mad Eye Moody follows the Dark Lord?!" Theodore asked in a high voice.

  
Harry scoffed and waved his hand dismissively as he retorted, "Please, Barty. You have this weird father-son relationship going with Tom. Anyone who deems Tom as a good father figure is definitely crazy."

  
Barty finally raised his head to stare at Harry as he teased, "Would that make you my future stepmother?"

  
"Don't make me order you to go to your room, Barty." Harry hissed, grinning at him.

  
"We're already in my room, mother." Barty retorted immediately.

  
"Children, please!" Voldemort finally shouted, glaring at Barty and Harry. Barty grinned sheepishly before returning to the parchments he needed to grade.

  
Harry glared at Barty and hissed, "Now look what you did! You made your father angry!"

  
"Sorry, father." Barty drawled, unable to stop himself from grinning.

  
Voldemort sighed in resignation and rubbed his forehead. He turned towards the only girl in the room and commented, "At least you're mature enough."

  
Luna slowly raised her head to smile dreamily at Voldemort as she said, "That's because I'm mummy's favourite daughter."

  
Voldemort covered his eyes with his palm while Harry rubbed the top of her head as he cooed, "Aawww, of course you are, my sweet dear Luna. You're mummy's favourite daughter. Yes, you are."

  
Voldemort glared at Theodore as he asked in an annoyed clip tone, "Would Theonel be able to come to the Hogsmeade day this coming Sunday?"

  
"Of course, My Lord! If it is by your order, my father would happily travel across the world in your name." Theodore replied, feeling awkward at the casual bantering happening around him.

“Dear Circe, this amount of fanatical loyalty should not be normal.” Harry murmured, staring at Theodore with amusement. Harry grinned at Voldemort and asked, “What's your secret?”

Voldemort raised an eyebrow and deadpanned, “My nice neat hair and piercing red eyes.”

Harry groaned and whined, “I'm screwed. All I have is a pair of Avada Kedavra eyes and this cursed bird's nest they call Potter hair.”

“Personally I think your eyes are quite beautiful, Little Lord.” Barty commented without looking up.

  
"Rise, Theodore." Voldemort ordered before he stood and walked towards Barty. Theodore quickly stood, feeling terribly awkward at the playful banter happening around him.

“You like using Avada Kedavra. Of course, you'll find my eyes beautiful.” Harry whined, pouting at Barty.

Barty opened the second drawer of his desk and took out a parchment. He held it towards Voldemort as he commented, “Wouldn't that mean My Lord also find Little Lord's eyes beautiful?”

Voldemort rolled his eyes and grabbed the parchment. He turned to glare at Harry and commented, “I find them so beautiful I want to pluck them out of your sockets.”

Theodore choked a whimper and his eyes widened when Harry simply smirked and retorted, “Your red eyes are as beautiful as the Crucio you throw, Tom. Maybe we should pluck each other’s eyes, hhhmmm?”

Voldemort grabbed one of the quills on the table and wrote something at the top before waving his hand over the parchment as he replied, “I'll give you an eye if you give me one.”

Harry recognized it as a wandless and nonverbal drying charm as he commented, “Oh, I've always wanted a right red eye. I think you'll look dashing with green eyes, Tom.”

Barty sighed and asked, “Can we please not talk about exchanging eyes, My Lord? The visuals... are very disturbing...”

Voldemort rolled the parchment and transfigured the quill he was using as a gold ring shaped as a snake eating its own tail as he commented, “Be happy you are not linked to Harry's mind, Barty. He has the most...”

Voldemort turned to stare at Harry who simply grinned at him as he continued, “... detailed imagination.”

“Why you imagine such revolting muggle ways to exchange our eyes when we could easily use magic is beyond me. We must really work on corrected that muggle infested mine of yours, my dear.” Voldemort nonchalantly commented which made Harry roll his eyes. Voldemort inserted the parchment into the ring before handing it to Theodore and he ordered, "Send this to your father. If everything goes according to plan, you will escort Harry Potter next Hogsmeade weekend to meet your father and a family friend."

  
Theodore took the parchment, making sure to bow his head as he said, "As My Lord commands."

  
Harry raised an eyebrow as he asked, "So this family friend... he wouldn't happen to be the same prat who would have papers of being a Durmstrang graduate and Gringotts certified fake identification papers, would he?"

  
Voldemort's feral grin made Theodore shiver in fear while it only made Harry grow more interested, "Yes. His name is Marvolo Slytherin, the son of Lord Voldemort."

  
Harry blinked for a second before finally asking, "You created a fake son named after your new name?"

  
"Yes." Voldemort replied, walking towards Harry. He placed his hand on Harry's chin and forced Harry to look up at him as he said, "Your meeting with Theodore Nott is an attempt to ask for help in surviving the Triwizard Tournament. Theodore Nott will ask help from his father who will introduce you to a Durmstrang graduate named Marvolo Slytherin."

  
"Who will become my coach?" Harry asked, raising an eyebrow when he noticed Voldemort's grin become more malicious.

  
"He will start as a coach of sort but you, Harry Potter..." Voldemort caressed Harry's bottom lip as he announced, "... will fall in love with the son of the Dark Lord."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was a super long chapter so I cut it into 2 normal length (by my standards) chapter.
> 
> Plus, it just seems right to end it here with Theodore's part.
> 
> That’s good news since that means I can update next week. After that… weeellll, we can only hope work doesn’t strangle me. XD


	10. So Much For Peace and Quiet

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Luna tells her side of the story in the beginning and Ginny muses about the changes in Harry.  
> The rest... well...  
> Voldemort had only wanted Theodore Nott in his plans.  
> The other snakes decided they wanted some of Harry's time as well.  
> Harry is not amused.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning:  
> 1 unbeta'ed as usual  
> 2 more headcanons for Voldemort's Death Eaters (sorta) and about Luna (and magic)  
> 3 obviously, this is more like a series of disjointed short stories (like the previous 2 chapters)  
> 4 Again, Harry does not like the Malfoys  
> 5 I changed the Hogsmeade trip from Saturday to Sunday  
> 6 First two parts are set to focus character’s POV, the rest are set to Harry’s POV

 

 

==============The Musing of Luna Lovegood==============

 

  
Luna Lovegood had always been able to see magic since she could remember.

  
Everyone's magic was unique and was quite fascinating to observe.

  
Most magic she could only see but there were some that Luna could smell. Some even felt cold or warm.

  
Dumbledore's magic was warm and soothing yet it was also too blinding for those who were not Light.

  
Luna, like the rest of the Lovegoods, was Neutral. It only meant they could use both Light and Dark magic with enough practice and understanding yet they can never produce a better spell than one that was inclined to either.

  
To Luna, Dumbledore's magic was too blinding to observe for far too long but Luna noticed it usually took the shape of overly large pair of wings.

  
Lord Slytherin's magic, on the other hand, was so alluring and tempting that Luna could lose herself if she stared far too long. The magic coiled around all those around him like snakes gently choking their prey. It allured all, regardless of their magical inclination.

  
Yet, even if Luna knew she was slowly being choked into submission, she paid it no heed.

  
For the greatest magic of all was the sad song she always heard coming from her lord.

  
Her little broken lord with his chained magic singing soft sad songs. He kept his magic in his core and Luna only noticed it when it would lash out against Lord Slytherin's magic. His magic did not like being forced out.

  
Her lord's magic did not tempt or allure anyone. Instead it sings and only the magic of those compatible with her lord could hear it.

  
Her lord's magic which had been dark Grey even when she had been a first year had turned into a darker shade of Grey during the latter part of his second year. It was the same kind of dark hue she had seen in Ginevra Weasley before it had returned to its fiery Light like the rest of the Weasley. It continued to darken as time passes on but the song remained the same. She had heard a more beautiful but still sad song during the latter half of her first year though. It was when she saw the Dark magic oozing from her lord's bag. The same Dark magic she had seen in Ginevra's bag during the first half of her first year. It was also the same Dark magic she could see hiding in her lord's core, weak and barely moving yet her lord's magic wrap around it like a treasured child and the dark magic clung onto her lord's magic like a possessive new born. It was the same Dark magic she saw around Lord Slytherin.

 

Lord Slytherin... was the one most compatible with her lord's magic. His magic coiled around her lord in a possessive embrace, stroking and coaxing his magic out. Her lord's magic lashes out most of the time but it would shiver as well. Whenever they were near one another, her lord's magic sang sweeter songs. They were still sad but there was a hint of hope in them.

  
The Nargles whispered to her ear that it may take some time but Lord Slytherin was the only one who could truly coax her lord's magic out.

  
The Nargles had been hushed-hushed about how that would happen though.

  
Another person who had heard her lord's magic had been that muggle-born in Gryffindor. She had seen the muggle-born's magic and how it had so desperately tried to hold her lord's core into a loving embrace but could not. Her lord's magic lashed out against the hold, identifying it as too Light, too pure and too sickeningly sweet. Her lord's magic was just too Grey, bordering on dark already, to find solace in the pure Light of the muggle-born. Oh, how her heart break whenever she saw the muggle-born. There was so much potential, so many possibility, in the poor ignorant muggle-born. She was too pure to remain by her lord's side and her lord was too stubborn to paint her Light with the specks of dark it needed to be Grey. Perhaps that Bulgarian Dark Wizard with the strong fortress-like magic could help the muggle-born where her lord could not?

  
The Bulgarian Dark Wizard's magic also heard her lord's magic. Out of all the other champions, rather than the Light Hufflepuff or the Grey Quarter-Veela, it was the Dark Bulgarian who heard it the most. Her lord's magic was more in tune to Dark and dark Grey, it seemed. Luna, with her pure Grey magic, and the Gryffindor muggle-born, with her pure Light magic, were the only exception as far as Luna had observed.

 

There was an anomaly though.

 

Ginevra Weasley…

 

Luna did not know if the youngest Weasley’s magic could hear the song of her lord’s magic but Luna had observed how her fiery Light magic would always move towards her lord, yet always stop just a foot away. The wispy ends of her magic seemed to turn to something quite similar to black ashes, drifting towards his lord. The black ashes always reminded Luna of Lord Slytherin’s magic.

 

She still do not know if the red-haired Gryffindor could hear her lord’s magic for her magic did not have the same rhythmic movements as the muggle-born Gryffindor’s magic did. Her magic did not sway to the tune of her lord’s magic as it gets closer. The magic that could hear her lord’s magic would instinctively sway to the tune.

  
Just like the baby snakes, as her lord would 'lovingly' call them, who could hear her lord's songs as well.

  
They had always heard it but it was only after her lord had started to become more in tune with who he really is, with what his magic is really is, did the baby snakes start to notice the quiet singing of her lord's magic and sway to the tune of her lord’s magic.

  
Like Theodore...

  
Sweet lovely Theodore who the Nargles had whispered would become her lord's first Knight.

  
Theodore had been ecstatic when Luna had told him about what the Nargles had whispered to her.

  
Her lord had simply found it amusing while Lord Slytherin had simply raised an eyebrow, not minding that the son of one of his most loyal follower was to become his future consort’s ‘lackey’ (as her lord lovingly called the knights).

  
But Luna knew what it meant to be a Knight.

  
Theodore's magic was still developing but it was becoming formidable and unyielding. Soon it would be as impenetrable as the Dark Bulgarian's. Theodore was meant to be her lord's Knight, the shield her lord needed.

  
Theodore's magic was the direct opposite of Barty's wild sharp magic that reminded Luna of thousands of swords, simply waiting to strike down on his master's command. Barty was Lord Slytherin's Knight; there was no question about it. Luna has seen Barty's magic would sometimes hover around her lord, seemingly guarding her lord yet keeping its distance, out of respect for Lord Slytherin. It was fascinating to watch. She knew Barty's magic could hear her lord's song by the way Barty's magic would hover and move at the same slow tempo as her lord's song.

 

She did find it sweet that Barty's magic would also circle around her when she was near.

 

Such a sweet man...

  
Luna enjoyed watching how the magic of other people react to her lord's magic; especially now that her lord's magic had begun singing louder.

  
The magic of most Light wizards and witches couldn't hear it. It was the magic of Dark wizards and witches as well as the dark Grey wizards and witches who could.

  
Most Slytherins have felt something different and they mainly observed yet most of their magic try to reach out to her lord. The magic Lord Slytherin's magic could not keep away were stopped by her lord's magic lashing out.

  
Her lord's magic really does not like being touched.

  
Yet it was because her lord's magic was so reserved that Luna could not help but fall so deeply into its sad little hymn. The same hymn she would hum under her breath in her lord's presence. She could see his lord's magic shiver in response to her humming.

  
Everyone who seemed to hear her hum the same song seemed to recognize it in a way. Theodore and Barty always relaxed whenever she hummed it. Lord Slytherin seemed to always be in a better mood when he hears her hum it.

  
Her lord, on the other hand, seemed to look sad when he hears it. His magic would sing with her but her lord would always get this sad look in his eyes.

  
Luna wondered if the song itself held some kind of meaning to her lord.

  
Luna wondered if she would ever know where her lord could have heard such a sad song.

 

==============The Fear of Ginevra Weasley==============

 

Harry left the Gryffindor tower early again.

  
It had become his routine a few weeks after his name was called from the goblet.

  
Ginny would always try to wake up just as early, try to catch up with Harry.

  
But she would always stop before she could call him. She would always run away just when Harry would turn to look at her direction.

  
Ginny still couldn't muster enough courage to talk to Harry again.

  
And she always regretted it.

  
She had always been in love with Harry.

  
That wasn't correct.

  
She had always been in love with the idea of Harry Potter.

  
Growing up, she only heard the praises her parents and her parents' friends gave to the Boy-Who-Lived.

  
He was like her dream prince who will take her away from this poor place and make her a princess.

  
Looking back at it, Ginny realized how silly she had been.

  
She had never been in love with Harry Potter. She was in love with her dream prince who will love her, cherish her and help her and her family.

  
It was an innocent naive look in life that was tolerated when done by a child.

  
But Ginny wasn't a child anymore.

  
That didn't mean she did not love Harry.

  
Her first year in Hogwarts, she met Tom.

  
Sweet, patient Tom... her first friend...

  
And, in the end, her rival for Harry's affections.

  
It might seem insane if she were to tell it to anyone (Merlin forbid, Ron and the twins would tease her mercilessly if she ever told them) but no one else had been possessed by Tom, no one else have the brief flashes of emotions and feelings which were so dark, so deep, so twisted Ginny knew wasn't hers.

  
... didn't want to believe they were hers.

  
Looking back on it, her 'love' for Harry had been fuelled by Tom himself.

  
Tom always asked about Harry.

  
_Did you see Harry today, Ginny?_

_  
How was Harry today, Ginny?_

_  
Wasn't your brother Harry's best mate, Ginny?_

_  
Can you describe Harry to me, Ginny?_

_  
What do you like most about Harry, Ginny?_

  
There was never a day where Tom did not ask about Harry.

  
Because of Tom's questions, Ginny paid more attention to Harry, remembered him clearer than anyone else.

  
Believed she knew him more than anyone else...

  
She had been devastated when she saw Harry had Tom's diary. She feared for Harry's life, feared that Tom was using him just like he used Ginny.

  
But he didn't...

  
When Tom possessed her once more, she knew something was different with Tom.

  
The final days she had with the diary were vague at best but she never forgot that deep, twisted feeling of possession, of wanting, of desire.

  
... for Harry...

  
Only for Harry...

  
Sometimes, she would look at Harry and she would remember those deep twisted feelings.

  
Sometimes, she would forget and think those feelings were her own.

  
Then she would get angry at herself.

  
She would get angry at Tom.

  
Then she would just feel sad.

  
In the end... she still missed Tom.

  
Tom might have lied to her, might have simply used her, but he had still been there for her when no else had been. He had still listened to her when no else heard her. He had still understood how much she had fallen in love with Harry Potter.

  
That's why, sometimes, she would call Harry 'Tom'. A slip of the tongue... an embarrassing moment...

  
A second of absolute despair...

  
Because there was something about Harry that just reminded Ginny of Tom.

  
There was something about Harry that Ginny feared.

  
She didn't understand what it was. She had no idea what it could be.

  
She was just afraid that whatever it was... it would destroy Harry...

  
That's why she went to search for Harry for weeks since he started distancing himself, disappearing for long periods of time.

  
Ginny was afraid that Harry was turning to Tom.

  
That's why she always looked at the girl's bathroom leading to the Chambers. She would spend hours just sitting by the entrance, waiting for the entrance to open and for Harry to come back.

  
He never did.

  
Ginny wondered if there was another entrance.

  
She wondered if Harry never came back to the Chambers.

  
No.

  
Ginny knew Harry would come back to the Chambers.

  
Because she knew Tom had been her rival for Harry's affections.

  
Because she knew Tom had been close to Harry.

  
Because she knew...

  
She knew...

  
Tom knew Harry more than she ever did.

  
It always came back to Tom.

  
Always, always, always, always...

  
Ginny hated Tom Riddle.

  
And she loved him.

  
Not as deep as she loved Harry, not as deep as Tom loved Harry...

  
A part of her would always think no one can love Harry as deep as Tom...

  
Because Tom's love for Harry was so deep, so strong that it was suffocating, threatening to destroy all that Ginny ever felt and be devoured by Tom's feelings alone.

  
Ginny knew Tom never understood his feelings as love.

  
But Ginny truly did believe it was love.

  
What other emotions would be that strong, that deep?

  
But Tom was no longer here. Tom was dead. Harry had killed him to save Ginny.

  
And Ginny believed it was her responsibility to shoulder it all.

  
Harry's pain over losing Tom...

  
Tom's unrequited feelings for Harry...

  
It was Ginny's duty to heal the pain left by Tom's absence and betrayal. It was Ginny's duty to love Harry in Tom's stead. She might never be able to love Harry as deep as Tom did but she did love Harry. She loves Harry more than anyone in the entire world.

  
She loves Harry more than Hermione did...

  
She loves Harry more than Ron did...

  
She loves Harry more than Luna did...

  
More than Luna can ever love Harry...

  
Luna could never understand how to love Harry.

  
Luna wasn't there when Tom became part of Ginny's ** _Harry's_** life.

  
Luna wasn't the one Tom talked to about Harry.

  
Luna wasn't the one Tom possessed.

  
Luna wasn't the one who drowned in Tom's feelings for Harry.

  
Luna wasn't-

  
Luna wasn't **_~~Tom~~_** Ginny...

 

 

==============Social Niceties from Blaise Zabini and Daphne Greengrass==============

 

 

It had started out as a very nice day.

 

The birds were chirping.

 

The sun was warm.

 

The breeze was cool.

 

And Harry was on his way to Barty's office, humming a muggle nursery rhyme under his breath, imagining the gruesome fate of the poor baby as it falls down from the tree top.

 

Voldemort seemed torn between being amused with his imagination and being annoyed by the muggle nursery rhyme.

 

Overall, Harry was looking forward to a lazy Saturday, reading the boring pure-blood etiquette book Voldemort had him borrow from the library while half-listening to Voldemort and Barty talk about their Dark Lord plans as he rested on Luna's lap. It seemed like he deserved it considering how he was pretty much Voldemort’s errand boy ever since they became bound to one another and they had a big 'event' to make tomorrow in Hogsmeade.

 

Of course, Fate just had to laugh at his attempt of normality and throw him a curve ball in the shape of a snake.

 

“Litt- Harry!”

 

Harry stopped and turned around, grinning at Theodore's slip. After the Nott heir was debriefed on Harry and Voldemort's relationship upgrade, he had been calling Harry 'Little Lord', just like Barty. Harry didn't mind the slightly insulting title, really.

 

“Theo.” Harry greeted once Theodore was right in front of him. Harry raised an eyebrow and asked, “Sure you should be talking to Hogwarts’ Most Disliked Person at the moment? You might get dragged into it.”

 

Theodore frowned and asked back, “What about Luna Lovegood? She's pretty much attached to you.”

 

Harry shrugged and reasoned, “Luna doesn't have a standing in the Wizarding world nor is she an heir to one of the most famous pure-blood families.”

 

Theodore straightened his back and raised his chin slightly as he proclaimed proudly, “And as the heir of the Nott family, it is my familial duty to stand by my allegiance.”

 

“My, my. Converting one of the most loyal families? I must say, I am impressed, Potter.” Zabini's cool amused tone drifted from the second corner of the hallway they were standing in. Harry turned around to face Zabini, noticing that the elder Greengrass was walking next to him.

 

“Zabini. Lady Greengrass. A pleasant morning to both of you.” Harry greeted, bowing slightly as he stared at Daphne.

 

Daphne curtsied as she greeted back, “A pleasant morning to you as well, Sir Potter. You weren't in the Great Hall during breakfast.”

 

Harry wryly smiled as he admitted, “I've been avoiding the Great Hall since I was forced into the tournament. Too many eyes I want to pluck.”

 

Zabini chuckled lowly and took a step towards Harry as he commented, “Your honest tongue is also quite interesting.”

 

Theodore took a step forward, placing his hand on Zabini's chest and warned, “Back off, Zabini.”

 

“Oh? Such protective tendencies, Nott.” Zabini's lips curved into an amused smirk as he asked, “May I ask why?”

 

Theodore glared at Zabini as he hissed, “Lit- Harry is off-limits.”

 

“And is Potter off-limits because of you?” Zabini mused, his smirk becoming more predatory as he commented, “Because that... can be arranged.”

 

“Easy, Blaise. You're starting to sound like your mother.” Daphne mockingly chided before smiling pleasantly at Theodore as she admitted, “But your recent behaviour does need some evaluation, Theodore. What has Potter done for you to react with such... passion?”

 

“If I didn't know better, I would say Potter managed to convert you.” Zabini added, leaning towards Theodore and tilting his head to be able to whisper to Theodore's ear, “Are you betraying your Lord, Nott?”

 

“Potter is off-limits because he does not play with baby snakes. Theo is acting like an overprotective hen because I'm a little fragile misunderstood boy.” Harry drawled, shaking his head as he commented, “Honestly, you three act like I'm not here. If you want to talk about me like I'm not here, please have this conversation when I'm not here.”

 

Harry sighed and patted Theodore's back as he said, “Thank you, Theo, for trying to shield me from the wicked baby snake. Stand down.”

 

Theodore opened his mouth to refuse but stopped when he saw Harry was simply staring at him with a raised eyebrow. Theodore bowed his head in submission as he mumbled, “As you wish...”

 

Zabini and Daphne stared at Theodore as the other boy stepped aside, glaring at Zabini. Zabini turned his attention back at Harry and admitted, “Now you really have my interest, Potter. I must ask for some of your time today.”

 

“Yeaaaahhh...” Harry drawled before smiling at him as he said, “No.”

 

“I can make it worth your while.” Zabini suggested which only made Harry's smile turned into a mocking grin.

 

“I highly doubt it.” Harry retorted, shrugging as he bluntly said, “You don't interest me, Zabini. Until you do or until we have use for you, I would rather preserve our... amicable relationship as acquaintances.”  

 

Zabini stepped forward, grabbing Harry by the shoulder and pulling the shorter boy towards him. Harry narrowed his eyes at Zabini and he felt Voldemort's irritation through their mental link. Zabini tilted his head and whispered next to Harry's ear, “I don't know what you've done to gain the loyalty of someone with such fanatic loyalty as Nott but my interest in you is not enough for me to not harm you for your cheek, Potter.”

 

Theodore took out his wand and aimed it at Zabini as he hissed, “Let go of him, Zabini.”

 

Daphne took out her wand and aimed it at Theodore as she ordered, “Lower your wand, Theodore. There is no need to be hasty.”

 

Daphne turned her head to glare at Zabini as she ordered, “Let go of Potter as well, Blaise. There's no need to get riled up by his words.”

 

Zabini let go of Harry's shoulder and stepped away. The moment he stepped away, Theodore stepped forward, shielding Harry from Zabini's gaze, his wand still raised and aimed at Zabini. Theodore glared at Zabini and hissed, “You shouldn't have done that, Zabini. Your actions have grave consequences.”

 

Zabini raised an eyebrow and took out his wand, aiming it lazily at Theodore as he asked, “Is that so? And who would be my judge and executioner? You?”

 

“Oh, for the love of...” Harry growled in annoyance and smacked Theodore's back as he ordered, “Lighten up! You are taking this whole 'protecting the Little Lord like the bloody knight of Walpurgis' a little too seriously.”

 

Zabini's and Daphne's eyes widened when they heard the initial name of the Inner Circle of Voldemort's Death Eaters.

 

“He's not going to go torture and kill Zabini just because the stupid prat grabbed me by the shoulder and threatened me! He's a baby snake! You three are baby snakes! You won't last three seconds under his favourite spell.” Harry ranted, rubbing his forehead as he whined, “I wish that burning spell works on you two. I seriously think you two need disciplinary actions.”

 

Harry glared at Theodore and ordered, “Stop acting like an overprotective mother hen. I am not some stupid damsel-in-distress that you need to protect from a stable boy.”

 

Zabini looked offended at that comparison but Harry beat him to it by glaring at him and ordering, “You turn down the threatening and disturbing flirting a notch. One, I've heard worse threats so yours are not going to make a dent in my stone cold heart. Two, I'm not interested in you so flirting would get you nowhere.”

 

“And you...” Harry glared at Daphne.

 

Then he stared at her.

 

A few seconds of awkward silence filled the air around the three students (and the invisible Dark Lord).

 

Harry frowned and admitted, “You haven't done anything wrong so I'm not really sure how I should... scold you...”

 

Daphne smirked at him and commented, “I am Blaise's voice of reason. On behalf of Blaise, I would like to apologize, Sir Potter.”

 

“Shut it, Daphne.” Zabini hissed, glaring at Daphne.

 

“Oh, just close your mouth and look pretty, Blaise.” Daphne retorted with a smirk, “Potter has us at a disadvantage. We're the ones curious about him and he has made it clear that he does not find us interesting at all nor does he want to spend time with us. You're only further antagonizing him by your disrespectful manners which you probably got from spending too much time with Draco.”

 

Harry raised an eyebrow and commented to Theodore, “Okay. I kinda like her.”

 

Harry smirked as he added while looking at Daphne with amused eyes, “Plus points on making a jab at Malfoy during that speech.”

 

Daphne curtsied and said, “Why thank you. I do try to be pleasing.”

 

“As an apology, may we invite you to have afternoon tea with us this upcoming Hogsmeade trip?” Daphne invited with a smile. She took a step forward and tilted her head as she added, “I have already requested my mother to deliver Treacle tarts from a famous pastry store. They say their tart is a piece of heaven.”

 

Harry hummed and playfully said, “Tempting...”

 

“Blaise promises to behave.” Daphne narrowed her eyes at Zabini and asked in a warning tone, “Isn't that right, Blaise?”

 

Zabini glared at Daphne for a second before smiling at Harry. He placed one hand on his chest while he pressed his other hand against his lower back. Zabini kept his eyes at Harry as he bowed and said pleasantly, “It will be our pleasure to have even just a bit of your time.”

 

Harry raised an eyebrow out of amusement of Zabini's actions. That kind of bow was a pure-blood etiquette that shows that the bower was of lower status than the one the bower is bowing to.

 

Harry found he quite enjoyed the implication.

 

Harry smiled at Zabini and mused, “Well, since you asked nicely... I would love to have afternoon tea with the two of you...”

 

Harry's smile turned a bit apologetic as he continued, “Unfortunately I have already made plans for that Hogsmeade trip. If things go well, my entire afternoon might be unavailable.”

 

Harry turned towards Daphne and asked, “How about an after dinner tea instead? We can have tea till curfew.”

 

Daphne continued to smile pleasantly as she nodded, “That would be acceptable, Sir Potter.”

 

Daphne stepped forward, curtsying as she said, “Thank you for granting us your audience.”

 

Harry chuckled softly and shook his head as he replied playfully, “Don't make me regret it, Daphne.”

 

Daphne's blue eyes shone with smugness when she heard him call her by her first name. She bowed and proclaimed, “We shall do our best to not disappoint you.” 

 

 

 

 

==============Heart-to-Heart with Pansy Parkinson==============

 

“Hey! Potty!”

 

Harry really, really wanted to just continue walking but he felt Voldemort push his shoulder to turn him around. Harry grimaced as he came face to face with a determined Pansy who had her arms crossed.

 

Harry really, really wished Daphne and Zabini hadn't grabbed Theo away. Theo would have been able to talk to Pansy instead of him.

 

The pure-blood glanced around before commenting in a haughty tone, “Oh? No blood-traitor or mud-blood with you today? Or that crazy Ravenclaw? I see Theodore isn't with you as well.”

 

Pansy smirked as she mocked, “Aaaww, Little Potty all alone.”

 

Harry sighed and drawled, “Unless your entire attention was to Baby Malfoy the entire time, you should have noticed that Ron and Hermione are avoiding me, just like the rest of the Gryffindors. Theo got dragged away by Zabini and Daphne. I was on my way to meet up with Luna but then you called me using that childish insult.”

 

Harry winced when he felt Voldemort smack him on the back silently.

 

“You're calling Daphne by her first name?” Pansy asked, staring at Harry with wide eyes.

 

Harry shrugged and replied dismissively, “I like her.”

 

“WHY?!”

 

Harry winced at the shrieking quality of Pansy's voice.

 

“Because she's interesting?” Harry replied, unsure on why Pansy was asking.

 

Pansy stared at him with wide eyes and slacked jaw. It took a few seconds before Pansy told him, “But she's a pure-blood like me!”

 

Harry raised an eyebrow and asked, “So?”

 

“How can you like her while you... you... you...”

 

Harry instinctively took a step back when Pansy began to cry. Pansy sniffed and rubbed the tears off with sleeve of her robes as she continued, “The Greengrass Family is lower than the Parkinson family! They stayed neutral in the first war when they were Dark! We followed the Dark Lord up till the bitter end!”

 

“Weeelllll... your father did say he was Imperiused-”

 

“She was raised in the pure-blood ways like me!” Harry took another step back, bumping into the invisible Voldemort, as Pansy took a step towards him, wailing as she continued to cry, “She believes mud-bloods like your girlfriend and half-bloods like you are weaker! She's just looking for a pure-blood from a respectable family to marry into!”

 

“O... kay...?” Harry was seriously wondering why the hell Pansy was badmouthing Daphne to him of all people.

 

And Luna, who was apparently his girlfriend, was a pure-blood.

 

… or was Pansy talking about Hermione?

 

“THEN WHY DO YOU LIKE HER BUT HATE ME?!!” Pansy wailed loudly, closing her eyes and crying loudly.

 

Harry quickly looked around, mentally thanking whoever was listening that no one was around to see the Boy-Who-Lived and a Slytherin who was having a mental breakdown.

 

“IT'S BECAUSE SHE'S PRETTY, ISN'T IT?! IT'S BECAUSE SHE'S SMART?!” Pansy continued to cry loudly and Harry could feel Voldemort's annoyance and anger seeping through their link.

 

Harry rubbed his scar and closed his eyes, taking a deep breath, before he ordered, “Oh for the love of- Get a hold of yourself, Pansy Parkinson!”

 

Pansy stopped immediately out of surprise. She stared at Harry with teary eyes and trembling lips. Once in a while, she would sniff loudly. Harry opened his eyes and glared at Pansy as he hissed, “You go on and on about being a pure-blood and all that but do you even understand how you look right now?”

 

Harry took a step forward and leaned his face towards Pansy as he hissed, “You look like a whiny self-centred ignorant mud-blood who thinks she should be coddled and spoiled by the Wizarding World.”

 

Pansy's jaw slacked once more when, not expecting the insult that came out of the Light's precious Golden Boy. Harry stepped back and sneered at her, “I don't like you because of that stupid self-centred mind-set of yours. I don't like you because you hang around Malfoy's every word and would willingly crawl on the ground he walks on if it means getting his attention.”

 

“Quite frankly?” Harry tried to mimic the face Voldemort made when he wants to Crucio one of his followers for their stupidity as he sneered, “I think you're a silly pathetic little girl who doesn't deserve to be a witch.”

 

“Only an idiot would believe in something as stupid as blood supremacy.” Harry grabbed both of her cheeks, forcing the stupefied Slytherin to stare at him, as he continued, “Blood means nothing, Parkinson. I am a half-blood and I can defeat Malfoy. Albus Dumbledore is a half-blood and he defeated Grindelwald, the Dark Lord only second to Voldemort. Blood means nothing, Parkinson.”

 

Harry leaned forward and whispered, “What matter is power. Power to protect yourself. Power to protect others. Power to crush every obstacle in your path.”

 

Harry leaned back and hissed, “If you think you're ugly then do something about it. If you think you're not smart enough then do something about.  There will come a time when there will be nobody around you to help you. In the end, you can only depend on yourself.” 

 

Harry dropped his hands and said nonchalantly, “I like Daphne because she's interesting. I don't like you because I find you dull.”

 

Harry used Tom Riddle's smile, making Pansy's breath hitch, and he said, “If you want me to like you, Parkinson, then stop following Malfoy like an overly eager dog and show me that you're worth the attention.”

 

Harry turned around and dismissed, “Good day, Parkinson.”

 

Harry began walking, not bothering to stop when Pansy began shouting, “I'll show you, Potter! I'll show you I can be prettier and smarter than Daphne! Then I'll have your attention!”

 

Harry finally stopped when he was around the corner and turned his upper body to look back at Pansy. Pansy's cheeks were still wet and red but she wasn't crying anymore. She was staring at Harry with determined eyes and both of her hands were on her sides, formed into fists with white knuckles. Harry smirked and drawled, “Looking forward to it, Parkinson.”

 

 

==============The Dismissal of Draco Malfoy==============

  
"Oi! Potter!"

  
Harry really, really, really wanted to run far, far away.

  
But he knew Voldemort would scold him if he did.

  
So he took a deep breath, counted one to three slowly before turning around to face the damn ferret that just won't get a clue.

  
Harry wanted to roll his eyes when he noticed that Malfoy Minions A and B were with Baby Malfoy.

  
Of freaking course.

  
"Malfoy." Harry greeted in a bored tone before taking out his wand. Malfoy took out his wand as well and aimed it at Harry while the two minions looked confused. Now Harry really did roll his eyes before he waved his wand and chanted, "Tempus."

  
Harry crossed his arms and said, "You have three minutes to tell me what you want, Malfoy."

  
"How dare you-"

  
"Two minutes and fifty-six seconds." Harry interrupted, raising an eyebrow at Malfoy as a silent challenge.

  
Malfoy stepped forward, glaring at him as he hissed, "What are you planning, Potter?"

  
“Right now? A way to find some peace and quiet and to not be interrupted by baby snakes." Harry drawled in the same bored tone he had been using ever since Malfoy began talking to him.

  
"Stop pretending, Potter." Malfoy ordered, "You have Theodore dogging you like some kind of love-sick puppy-"

  
"I prefer the term 'loyal guard dog'." Harry interrupted, caressing his wand the same way Voldemort would subconsciously do, "A love-sick puppy would be Pansy Parkinson grovelling all over your pathetic excuse of a pure-blood arse."

  
Malfoy pressed the tip of his wand at Harry's chin the same time Harry aimed his wand on Malfoy's stomach. Harry grabbed the hand holding Malfoy's wand and stepped closer to Malfoy, digging his wand against Malfoy's stomach and hissing in the same tone Voldemort used when someone had displeased him (which is usually followed by a Crucio), "Watch your next move, Malfoy. One wrong step and it would be Daddy dearest who will pay for your foolishness."

  
"You think you can take the Malfoy House, Potter?" Malfoy hissed, pressing his wand against Harry's chin.

  
"That's all you do, Malfoy." Harry hissed back, "You hide behind the name of the Malfoy family and pretend it's your own power when you're nothing but an average boy who can't even best a mud-blood and whine at daddy dearest for the silliest of things. I am warning you, Malfoy. You and your father have made my life more unbearable than it already is for years and remind me of two walruses who are doing the same thing which does not bode well on both of you now."

  
"What the hell is wrong with you?" Malfoy whispered and Harry couldn't help but enjoy the fear playing in Malfoy's eyes.

  
Harry tilted his head to the side innocently and asked, "What do you mean?"

  
"You're acting bloody weird!" Malfoy shouted, pushing Harry away from him. Both boys aimed their wands at one another and Harry tilted his head to the side when he noticed Malfoy's hand was slightly trembling. Malfoy didn't seem to notice the curious expression Harry had as he continued, "You've got Theodore wrapped in your little fingers! Blaise and Daphne are interested in you! You have that loony Ravenclaw following you and obeying you like-like-like-"

  
"Bellatrix Lestrange?" Harry suggested, raising an eyebrow. Malfoy's eyes widened at the name and his hand began to tremble even harder. Harry's lips curved to a wicked grin as he drawled, "You think I'm going Dark."

  
Harry took a step forward and tilted his head as he asked teasingly, "Is that what the Slytherins think is happening? The Golden Boy of the Light is starting to embrace the Dark?"

  
Harry took another step as he continued, "Perhaps something along the lines of Harry Potter is trying to be the next Dark Lord?"

  
Harry leaned forward, staring at Malfoy's face as he asked sweetly, "Are you afraid of me, Malfoy?"

  
"Of course not!" Malfoy stubbornly shouted but Harry noticed his voice was a pitch higher than normal.

  
Harry grinned and said, "Sure, of course you aren't. Don't worry, Malfoy..."

  
Harry caressed Malfoy's cheek mockingly as he said sweetly, "Even if I do become a Dark Lord, which I totally am not doing, you will never become one of mine."

  
Harry patted Malfoy's cheek softly before turning around. He began walking away as he said, "Tom can have you Malfoys. I have no use for arrogant prats who have delusions of grandeur. Quite frankly...”

 

Harry stopped and glared at Malfoy, “You and your daddy dearest annoy me. Remember this, Malfoy, for this is the only time I will say this out loud.”

 

Harry caressed his wand as he hissed with a predatory grin decorating his face, “The only person keeping both of you from being my test subjects is your precious Dark Lord so be sure to tell Daddy Dearest not to annoy Tom, okay?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is part 2 of the disjointed short stories... It's kinda... giving more character information, I suppose. XD  
> I... have mixed feelings about Ginny's POV.  
> Either she's going to be loyally insane like Bella or she's going to be one of the most insane enemies of the Dark side...  
> Meh. We'll see. XD  
> Again. I do adore Draco... (and I love Narcissa) but yeah, Harry does not like the Malfoys...  
> The whole 'singing magic' thing was conceived because I was listening to Drakengard 3 OST and [Kuroi Uta (クロイウタ) International Version by Emi Evans](%E2%80%9D%E2%80%9D) played and I remembered how important the singing was to that game. So that spawned this 'singing magic' which developed overtime to a sub-plot to the CaBR 'verse. So yeah... To be honest, 'The Ultimate Weapon' or 'The Wretched Automatons' or 'Grandma' or 'Kaine (Salvation)' from Nier would work better because the made-up language used for them has an ethereal feel to it.
> 
> Or 'Room of Angels' (Silent Hill 4) or 'A Letter from the Lost Days' (Silent Hill 3) or 'Acceptance' (Silent Hill Shattered Memories) if you really want it to be English since those are sad songs that would work as well. (and I'm a Silent Hill trash as well ( = 3 = ) )
> 
> Click any of the titles to go to a youtube link of the songs.


	11. The Meeting of Marvolo Slytherin and Harry Potter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hogsmeade day... part 1.
> 
> Also known as: The meeting of the Boy-Who-Lived and the Dark Lord's Son

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We’re back to our usual format as well. XD
> 
> Warning:  
> 1 unbeta'ed as usual  
> 2 Voldemort will be called 'Marvolo' in the narration because he's acting as Marvolo Slytherin, the son of Lord Voldemort  
> 3 POV of Theonel Nott, father of Theodore Nott, but the Parseltongue part will still be translated  
> 4 Obligatory Death Eater musing  
> 5 Made-up (and modified) backstory of Theodore Nott's father (more information in the note below)
> 
>  
> 
> Notes about Nott:
> 
> According to Harry Potter wikia, Theodore's father is the Nott in the graveyard scene in Goblet and the same Nott that was part of Riddle's Knights of Walpurgis during his time in Hogwarts which makes no sense because according to wikia, Nott's father was born around the 1950s but Riddle was born around 1920s (obligatory age gap between Harry and Tom squick here for some people) which means Riddle couldn't have been in Hogwarts the same time as Nott's father. For the purpose of this fanfic, I have adjusted Lord Nott's birthyear to be around 1930s so that he would be a first year while Riddle is in his last year. This means he would be around 50s when he had Theodore which is possible (I know this as a fact since my father was on his late 40s and my mother was on her early 40s when they had me). The fact that Theodore was born from a middle aged couple would also make his mother's early death (which is canon) plausible. So yeah... hope that clears things up...
> 
> Nott's father was never given a first name so I chose 'Theonel' for no real reason than I just thought it's a nice name. XD

Theonel Nott couldn't sleep last night. It wasn't fear or nervousness that kept the Head of the Nott family awake though. It was that immature giddiness and child-like eagerness for tomorrow to come that kept his eyes awake.

  
That's why he was sitting in the small secluded corner of Three Broomsticks Inn, waiting patiently while nursing a glass of warm tea and nibbling on a few biscuits an hour and a half earlier than their promised time.

  
There had only been a few reasons that made him act in such a way even after he had come to age. One had been the day his son, his dearly beloved Theodore, came to his world. He had feared for his wife's health, of course, but his fear had been clouded by the eagerness to meet his new-born child.

  
The only other time had been this giddy was when Tom Riddle, the lord he had pledged his loyalty to, had taken Theodore in his arms and blessed him. He knew his lord did not like children. He had refused to touch any of Orion's children (of course, it probably didn't help that both boys could scream and cry like their banshee mother back then) and he had grimaced when he had to pat Abraxas' son on the head as a blessing. But with Theodore, his lord had held him, with the same grace as he usually hold (although Theodore knew him long enough to notice the hidden awkwardness in his movement), for a few seconds. It had brought a ridiculous grin on Theonel's face. His lord, even in his snake-like visage, still held his son. He knew his lord was humouring him, a... reward for his loyalty, perhaps. Or maybe it was because Theonel was having a nervous breakdown back then because the medi-witch had said that there had been complication with his wife and his lord had been there when Theonel didn't know what to do. Even still, Theonel felt like he was eleven again and Tom Riddle, the Slytherin King, had acknowledged his potential and had offered a place in his Knights. Theonel was the youngest of Tom's knights, together with Donolov. Donolov had been in his second year while Theonel had been in his first year when they became part of the Knight of Walpurgis. His lord was already in his last year and had expanded his Knights to ensure that his reign in the Slytherin house continued even after his departure.

  
Donolov and he were both enthralled by their king. His wife had more than once joked about her jealousy over his loyalty and devotion to his lord. His wife knew, of course. His loyalty to his lord was not romantic of nature. He was in love, yes, but not with his lord himself.

  
He was in love with his lord's power.

  
He was in love with his lord's ambitions.

  
He was in love with his lord's vision of the future.

  
A future where Light and Dark did not matter

  
A future where magic is simply magic...

  
A future where traditions are preserved and honoured...

  
A future where every magical being prospered without the prejudiced of the Light or the Dark...

  
A future where all magical children were protected and educated regardless of their blood...

  
That was what the Knights of Walpurgis had stood for.

  
That was what his lord had stood for.

  
Before his hatred for Albus Dumbledore pushed him to the edge…

  
The tipping point had been when their old Transfiguration professor's refusal to accept his lord as a professor.

  
Then the meddling fool had made sure every single one of their proposed laws was denied.

 

Dumbledore did not trust them for they had sworn loyalty to Tom Riddle, the half-blood who had made the entire Slytherin house bow down to his power.

  
The masses distrusted them simply because they were Slytherins, simply because they were pure-bloods, simply because they were Dark and simply because Dumbledore did not trust them.

  
The ignorant fools did not realize how stagnant their culture had become, how deep Magical Britain had fallen compared to the other countries.

  
Dumbledore was too idealistic. He did not see the big picture. It was all about cooperation and peace for him. He did not see how weak Magical Britain had become because of the ignorance of the populace. He did not see that by banning the Dark Arts, he was taking away the swords and shields they needed to protect themselves from the other magical communities and the rapidly developing muggles.

  
He did not see Tom Riddle as the change Magical Britain needed. He simply saw a broken Slytherin child beloved by the Dark. He saw the second coming of Grindelwald.

  
Or was it more accurate to say Dumbledore was still chained to the shadow of Grindelwald?

  
And he had cast Tom Riddle as a Dark Lord who would fall to the same abyss as Grindelwald...

  
They had become desperate back then.

  
The new Knights, the Death Eaters, were too blood-thirsty, too eager, and too... young.

  
The old Knights had become jaded, cynical, and... vengeful.

  
And their lord...

  
His lord...

  
Tom Marvolo Riddle, the most powerful Slytherin King...

  
Their saviour...

  
... had fallen from grace, dragged by hatred and rage.

  
And from the ashes and bones of Tom Marvolo Riddle, emerged the most feared and ruthless Dark Lord...

  
Lord Voldemort...

  
Theonel couldn't help the shiver that passed by his entire body by the mention of that word alone.

  
Voldemort wasn't the lord he pledged his allegiance to.

  
He was... the corpse of Tom Riddle.

  
Driven by anger and rage, he was the personification of the Dark's hatred and thirst for vengeance.

  
In his own ignorance, Dumbledore had herald the rise of Voldemort, the second Grindelwald.

  
Perhaps the old fool believed this was the ending of Tom Riddle from the very beginning but the Knights of Walpurgis refused to believe that.

  
For them, Dumbledore was the reason Tom Riddle died and reborn as Voldemort.

  
If Tom Riddle had been their lord, Voldemort was their master.

  
Theonel had served both of them loyally, just like the rest of his Knights.

  
If their lord fell then they would fall with him.

  
Their loyalty was disturbing to most but for Theonel and the rest of the Knights, their loyalty was their pride.

  
They feared Voldemort as much as they revered Tom Riddle.

  
Theonel didn't like most of the Death Eaters. Most of them didn't know of Tom Riddle, all they knew was Voldemort.

  
They joined because of fear, because of awe or simply because they wanted death and destruction.

 

They were the ones who ushered the idea of pure-blood supremacy.

 

During the time of Tom Riddle, his Knights had pure-bloods, half-bloods and even muggle-borns in their ranks. Tom Riddle charmed them all with his rational thinking and his passionate desires. The pure-bloods loved him because he wished to preserve tradition, the half-bloods loved him because he desired equality based on talents and power, not wealth nor heritage (which the pure-bloods didn’t deny since they thought their heritage made them more powerful by default) and the muggle-borns rallied under him for his desire to include the muggle-borns earlier and to protect the abused magical children from the muggles who fear them or hated them for being different.

 

When Voldemort rose to power, the muggle-borns in their ranks were the first to leave or betray them, driven away by the carnage the war brought. The main causalities of the first war had been muggle-borns who blindly sided with the Light. They died like flies against the more experienced wizards and witches in Voldemort’s ranks.

 

This undeniable fact only made the pure-bloods believe that their blood was more powerful.

 

But Theonel and the other remaining Knights knew it was simply because they had more experience and had a wider arsenal of Magic. They used both Dark and Light without any restriction. Power was power, regardless of its classification. That was one of the things Tom Riddle and his Knights stood for.

  
He had been fond of the few in the Inner Circle though.

  
He had been fond of Barty, loyal young Barty. Had his lord remained as Tom Riddle, he was sure his lord would have rewarded Barty by blood-adopting the young lad.

 

He had been fond of the Lestranges brothers. They had their father's cool calm exterior that hid a mischievous side. Rodolphus' wife, Bellatrix, was insane, yes, but she was entertaining. She was also broken, like the rest of the Blacks, and Theonel could not help but find that he did pity the childless witch. He still kept Theodore away from her though.

  
Lucius had been ambitious but Theonel could see he had been trying so hard to fill his father's shoes. Abraxas had always been their lord's second-in-command, their lord's adviser and confidant. There was a time Theonel had been jealous of Abraxas' position but seeing Lucius trying to keep that position, trying to please their lord every single time...

  
Theonel pitied him. He pitied Narcissa who always worried about her husband's safety and would always fear her son's future. He pitied Draco who is deluded into thinking that Lucius' position is a privilege.

  
Theonel pitied them all.

  
They were forever chained to serve the beast that remained at the death of their lord yet they still await his return, still wait for their second chance to win.

  
Whether the one to return is their master or their lord though...

  
That was the real question.

  
"You're early."

  
Theonel almost got up his sit and knelt when he heard the familiar amused tone of his lord. He raised his head and saw Tom Riddle in front of him. Whether it was a glamour or his lord has truly regain his human appearance was a question that plagued Theonel's mind but he still could not stop the grin that appeared on his face and he felt like he was eleven again, talking animatedly to his king.

  
"I couldn't sleep." Theonel admitted, unable to keep the grin off his face and regain his pure-blood mask.

  
How long did Theonel waited for his lord to return?

  
How long did he waited and hoped for Tom Riddle to return?

  
His lord simply gave him an amused smirk as he replied, "Is that so?"

  
His lord removed his outer robe and placed it at the back of the chair he sat on. He leaned back and kept his eyes by the door as he asked nonchalantly, "How are you, Theonel?"

  
"I..."

  
Theonel couldn't find the correct words to use to show how he truly felt.

  
He knew he had to pretend that he wasn't his lord, that he was his lord's son, Marvolo Slytherin, a Durmstrang graduate who he had taken care of and who he had kept a secret from everyone but to a selected few as his lord has ordered. That this man in front of him wasn't his king but a young man who had spent most of his adult life traveling the world, trying to get away from the shadows of his father, Voldemort.

  
"I always knew you would return." Theonel finally whispered, smiling at his lord softly.

  
His lord finally turned to look at him and Theonel wanted to kneel once more, to show his lord that he had remained loyal this entire time.

  
"I'm sorry I couldn't travel with you." Theonel blurted out, hoping his lord would understand what he truly meant.

  
_I beg your forgiveness for never looking for you, my lord._

  
Theonel's heart skipped a beat when his lord replied sombrely, "I understand, Theonel."

  
Hope blossomed in Theonel's chest.

  
Voldemort would have punished him regardless of his reason.

  
But Tom Riddle...

  
Tom Riddle would have understood...

  
His lord's lips curved into a small smile as he said, "You had a son to take care of. Your wife would have killed us both if you had travelled with me."

  
The mention of his late wife's well known temper brought a small grin on his face as he mused, "Yes, she would. She would probably escape the Veil just to haunt me, had I travelled with you."

  
His lord chuckled and turned his attention back to the door as he said, "And I would rather not be haunted by her as well."

  
"Theodore has grown splendidly." His lord commented and pride and joy threatened to burst from Theonel's chest. His lord turned to stare at him as he said, "You've done a wonderful job raising him alone, Theonel."

  
To hear his lord complement his son, the reason why he could not look for his lord, almost brought tears into his eyes.

  
Dear Merlin, he felt like he was eleven again.

  
It was embarrassing.

  
"I..." Theonel wanted to kneel in front of his lord, to show him how much his words had affected Theonel but he knew it would only displease his lord, would only shatter this act they needed to preserve.

  
All Theonel could do was whisper with a smile on his face, "Thank you... your words means a lot to me."

  
It meant everything to him.

  
His lord simply nodded and turned to stare at the door once more.

  
Theonel took his lord's silence to finally look at him. He looked just as he remembered Tom Riddle had looked before the Dark Rituals had taken away his humanity yet he looked like he was in his 30s. He was paler than how he remembered and his eyes were dark brown, almost dark red, instead of the blue eyes Tom Riddle had. Once more, Theonel wondered if his lord was using glamour and his eyes still had the same inhumane red eyes he had when he was Voldemort. He wore a simple black robe that covered up to his neck and a pair of black slacks. His ankle high boots was polished to a shiny black sheen.

  
That's when he noticed it.

  
Magic did not really have a corporal form. He had heard of some people who were gifted in seeing the flow of magic. Many of them were known to have lost their sanity, their mind broken by the gift they possessed.

  
But most wizards and witches, as well as the squibs with large magical cores, were able to feel the magic coming from other magical beings.

  
Those who have the Mark also have an amplified sense towards their lord's magic. The longer they've had the Mark, the more in tune to their lord's magic they were.

  
His lord's magic which had always been intoxicating and overflowing, drowning everyone near him in a constant state of dark allure that made everyone want to bow down and submit to him. Even those who did not have his Mark would feel that natural pull and that had been a factor in his charm as Tom Riddle. Sometimes he would hide it, especially back when he was a student in Hogwarts, but this wasn't the case. Even when he hid it before, the allure was still there, tempting and silently whispering the promise of power. That's not what Theonel felt around his lord right now. It felt as if his lord's magic is... dying...

  
His magic was slowly being dragged back into his core...

  
"Marvolo..." He called out worriedly, causing his lord turn his head to stare at him once more. He gulped and whispered, "Are you... alright...?"

  
His lord's lips curved into a small smirk as he replied, "I will be soon."

  
His lord's ominous reply seemed to have herald the door to open, the bell attached to the door chiming the announcement of new patrons.

  
Theonel's entire froze when he felt his lord's magic burst out in delight, seemingly honing towards the door. He heard his lord sigh softly... in relief?

  
His lord's magic was just as he remembered it. It wasn't Voldemort's corrupted, suffocating magic. It was Tom Riddle's intoxicating alluring magic that makes Theonel want to kneel and offer his undying loyalty. It was power at its most regal form, not like the primal beast-like force of Voldemort's.

  
Most of his magic remained around him, covering Theonel in the nostalgic dark allure he had been so used to when he had been in his lord's presence back when they were still Knights and he was not yet Voldemort.

  
There was a part that Theonel knew had flowed farther away from them, towards the door, as if instinctively trying to pull something closer.

  
"Father!" Theodore's energetic greeting finally stopped Theonel's musing. He turned his head towards the door and smiled as he saw Theodore walking towards them, a smaller boy following behind him. Both he and his lord stood in greeting as the two Hogwarts students approached their table.

  
Theodore took a step to the side and bowed slightly towards the smaller boy, one hand outstretched lightly towards Theonel as he introduced him, "Li-"

  
The smaller boy raised an eyebrow at Theodore and Theodore's cheeks reddened slightly at the mistake before he said, "H-Harry, this is my father, Theonel Nott, Lord of House Nott."

  
Theonel was surprised at how respectful his son was to this smaller boy. It seemed like his son wanted to please Harry Potter and it reminded him of how he had acted towards Tom Riddle back in Hogwarts. Theonel stared at the smaller boy next to his son. The messy black locks that framed his face reminded him of Charlus and his annoying spawn but the eyes hidden behind those hideous glasses took his breath away. They were bright green that was the same shade as the Killing Curse and they stared at him with the same mischievous boredom he remembered seeing from Dorea Black almost constantly. They stared and silently told him that he found this entire thing boring and they challenged Theonel to amuse this boy in front him.

  
To show him he was worth the time...

  
That was when Theonel noticed how in tune he was to the boy's magic which was strange by itself. In contrast to Tom Riddle's magic, the boy's magic felt weak but the longer Theonel was around him, the more he realized that it wasn't weak... it was being pushed down...

  
And his lord's magic, the part that had flowed away from them was surrounding the boy like a coiling snake, prodding and coaxing the boy's magic to come out. The boy's magic would lash out against the coil from time to time, like it was swatting an annoying bug.

  
The boy's lips curved to a pleasant smile that sent shiver down Theonel's spine. It was too perfect, too similar to Tom Riddle's smile. But his eyes shone with amusement, as if he noticed Theonel's surprise and revelled in it.

  
"It's a pleasure to finally meet you, Lord Nott. I have heard so many-" He saw those eyes glance at his lord quickly before returning to stare at him, "... good things about you."

  
Pride blossomed in Theonel's chest as he realized that the boy had meant his lord had talked about him in a good light. It seemed his reaction showed in his face because the boy's lips curved into a more amused smile.

  
"And I have heard a lot about you, Mister Potter." Theonel greeted back with a slight bow, out of respect. If the brief letter his lord had sent him and his son's actions towards the Potter scion were any indication, it would be beneficial to treat the young wizard with respect.

  
Harry's smile turned wryly as he commented, "Ah, not so flattering things, I assume."

  
Theonel gave him a reassuring smile as he said, "I'm sure some of them are exaggerated."

  
Theonel outstretched his hand slightly towards his lord and introduced, "May I introduce a family friend of mine? This is Marvolo Slytherin, the man I believe can help in your current endeavours."

  
Harry's head turned to stare at his lord and he greeted with a pleasant smile while his eyes shone with amusement, "A pleasure to make your acquaintances, Mister Slytherin."

  
"Please..." Theonel's eyes widened when he saw his lord gently grab Harry's hand and raise it. His lord bowed slightly to kiss Harry's knuckles briefly before whispering, "Call me 'Marvolo', Mister Potter."

  
Harry's cheeks reddened and he stuttered as he gave his lord a shy smile, "Er... okay. Ca-call me Harry then... M-Marvolo.”

 

His lord... Marvolo smirked slightly, caressing Harry's fingers briefly with his thumb before gently letting go. He straightened his back and suggested, "I am sure we all have a lot to talk about but let us begin once we have all sat and ordered, shall we?"

  
Theonel nodded and smiled as he said, "Of course."

  
Marvolo grabbed the chair next to him and gracefully slid it away from the table. He bowed slightly towards Harry who continued to blush as he sat on the offered seat, mumbling a soft "thank you". Theodore took the vacant seat between Harry and Theonel, sitting across Marvolo.

  
Marvolo sat back on his seat while Theonel waved a server to get her attention before sitting down. Theodore and Marvolo ordered a cup of hot tea while Harry ordered a warm glass of Butterbeer and a slice of Treacle tart. The mention of the tart seemed to bring a warning glance from Marvolo. Theonel ordered a refill of his tea and another basket of biscuits as well. After the server left with their orders, Harry turned to grin at Marvolo and asked, "Do you like Treacle tarts, Marvolo?"

  
Marvolo turned to stare at him with a pleasant smile but Harry noticed the slight annoyance in his eyes which only served to make Harry's grin larger, "I find them nice but I am not quite fond of sweets, I'm afraid."

  
"What do you like then?" Harry asked, titling his head slightly out of curiosity.

  
Marvolo seemed thoughtful for a few seconds before answering, "Dark chocolate... its sweetness is not as prominent because of the bitterness it also holds."

  
Harry wrinkled his nose and commented, "I don't like bitter things."

  
The server arrived with their orders, putting a halt to their small talk. Once the server left once more, Marvolo smirked at Harry and suggested with a low seductive drawl, "Perhaps I can help you acquire a liking to bitter substance, Harry."

  
Theonel almost choked on his tea while Theodore's jaw slacked at the blatant innuendo.

  
Harry grinned and replied coyly, "<< I don't know. I think it'll take a while before I could... appreciate the bitterness you offer... Marvolo.  >>"

 

Marvolo's smirk turned more predatory as he whispered back, "<< I'm willing to dedicate the time, Harry.  >>"

  
"Marvolo!" Theonel whispered worriedly. Marvolo turned to look at Theonel with a raised eyebrow and Theonel whispered, "You used Parseltongue."

  
Marvolo's eyes widened briefly before he turned to stare at Harry. Harry cut a small bite size piece of his Treacle tart and ate it, closing his eyes and moaning in appreciation at the Treacle goodness melting in his mouth.

  
Aaahhhh.

  
Treacle tart was delicious.

  
But forbidden non-dessert Treacle tart was simply sinful.

  
The two Notts couldn't help but gulp at the innocent (was it?) display of blissful appreciate in Harry's face while Marvolo narrowed his eyes, "You tricked me."

  
Harry opened his eyes and placed his fork by his bottom lip coyly as he replied, "I had to make sure."

  
"Make sure of what, Harry Potter?" Marvolo asked, making both Notts shiver at the hiss-like quality of Marvolo's tone.

  
Harry leaned towards Marvolo and whispered softly, "I only know one wizard who had a Marvolo in his name. He spoke the language of snakes as well, a direct descendant of Salazar Slytherin himself."

  
Harry stared at Marvolo's reddish-brown eyes as he continued, "He was a bright wizard and many thought he would change the Wizarding World for the better and he did change the Wizarding World, just not for the better..."

  
Marvolo's eyes narrowed further and Theonel could feel his magic lashing out, threatening to attack Harry. The magic coiled around Harry tightened, whether to protect or to suffocate the young wizard's magic, Theonel did not know.

  
"He became the most feared Dark Lord of all times, his very name is said to bring fear and sorrow to all who hear it." Harry placed his fork to his plate as he asked, "Tell me, Marvolo. What is your relationship with Voldemort?"

  
Theonel and Theodore instinctively twitched at the sound of their lord's name. Marvolo continued to glare at Harry for a moment, his magic tightening around him as if to prepare to strike.

  
Finally, Marvolo sighed and leaned back, mumbling with a wry smile, "I am unsure if you are brave or stupid, Harry Potter. Asking me such a thing point blank."

  
Theonel's eyes widened when he felt his lord's magic finally relaxed but it did moved towards Harry. Instead of attacking the boy, his lord's magic seemed to caress the boy's own, wrapping around the boy in a loose embrace.

  
Harry shrugged and leaned back as well, cutting his Treacle tart once more as he replied, "I'm a Gryffindor. Bravery and stupidity are both words associated to my house."

  
"So it seems." Marvolo mumbled with amusement in his eyes. He stared at Harry sombrely as he admitted, "According to my birth certificate, Voldemort is my father."

  
Harry raised an eyebrow and repeated, "According to your birth certificate?"

  
Marvolo shrugged and said nonchalantly, "I was never raised by my father and I hold no familial bond with him."

  
Marvolo turned to give a small smile to Theonel as he continued, "Theonel has been more of a family for me than him."

  
Theonel returned it with a grateful smile. Marvolo turned his head back to face Harry and raised an eyebrow when all Harry did was took another bite and smile at the treacle goodness in his mouth. Harry noticed him staring and tilted his head as a silent question. Marvolo couldn't help but smile at Harry's antics and asked, "Are you not afraid of me, Harry Potter?"

  
"Should I be?" Harry asked back before taking a sip of his warm Butterbeer.

  
"I'm supposedly the son of the Dark Lord who tried to kill you." Marvolo reminded him, staring at Harry's lips as the young wizard licked his upper lip to rid of the sticky foam of the Butterbeer.

  
"So?" Harry retorted. Seeing everyone's ludicrous look, Harry raised an eyebrow and asked Marvolo bluntly, "Do you want to kill me?"

  
"Of course not." Marvolo immediately replied, making Harry grin.

  
"Do you want to harm me?" Harry asked slicing his treacle tart with his fork once more.

  
"No, I do not." Marvolo replied.

  
Harry stabbed the small portion and tilted his head as he said, "Then I don't see the point in fearing or hating you, Marvolo."

  
Harry ate the small bite-sized portion and closed his eyes, sighing once more. They all stared at him, unable to say anything until...

  
Marvolo let out an undignified snort.

  
Both Notts immediately turned their head towards the sound, jaw slacking out of surprise.

  
Marvolo covered his mouth and tried to stifle his laughter, his shoulders trembling slightly. It was futile and, before long, Marvolo let out an amused carefree laugh.

  
Harry seemed surprised by the sound and he turned to stare at Marvolo, blinking owlishly at the laughing man.

  
It took a few seconds before Marvolo finally managed to get a hold of himself, taking deep breaths between the remaining chuckles. Marvolo smiled fondly at Harry and said, "You are a strange wizard, Harry."

  
Harry grinned and retorted, "You're not so bad yourself, Marvolo."

 

Marvolo smirked and leaned towards Harry, conspiratorially whispering, "It is fine with you? That your coach for this tournament is the Dark Lord's son?"

  
Harry hummed, seemingly thoughtful, before whispering back playfully, "I don't know. Are you qualified to coach the Saviour of the Wizarding World?"

  
Marvolo's smirk only grew as he suggested in the same playful tone, "How about a test run then, oh great saviour?"

  
Harry sighed and mumbled in a bored tone, "I suppose I can humour you."

  
Marvolo covered his mouth once more as he chuckled, leaning away from Harry. He took out two pieces of parchment as he admitted, "You are not as I expected you to be, Harry."

  
Harry snorted and stabbed the remaining tart on his plate as he mumbled, "Sorry to disappoint you."

  
"Oh no, I'm not disappointed." Marvolo corrected, still smiling at Harry, as he discreetly pushed one parchment towards Theonel. Theonel discreetly took the parchment, hiding it in the sleeve of his robe while Marvolo unrolled the remaining parchment as he continued, "You are so much better than I expected."

  
Harry's cheeks reddened at the blatant complement and mumbled a soft 'thanks' before eating the remaining tart.

  
Marvolo placed the parchment next to Harry's empty plate. Harry stared at the parchment, blinking a few times, before raising his eyes to stare at Marvolo with questioning eyes. Marvolo tapped the parchment as he explained, "This is the list of spells you are supposed to be familiar with by your fourth year according to Hogwarts' curriculum. I also added a few spells from the Durmstrang curriculum that I think would be useful to you in this tournament. I would like you..."

  
Marvolo placed his hand on Harry's fork and caressed it once. Harry's eyes widened when the fork transfigured to a quill and stared at Marvolo. Marvolo simply smirked at his reaction as he continued, "... to put a circle next to the name of each spell you know and can do or a triangle to each spell you know but never tried or managed to do successfully. This way I can see where we need to start."

  
Harry frowned slightly and grabbed the quill. As he began reading and adding marks on the parchment, Theonel cleared his throat and proclaimed, "Well, as it seems like you two are on to business, Theodore and I would leave you two to it. I would like to walk around Hogsmeade and see for my eyes what has changed over the years. Theodore, would you mind being my guide? I'm afraid I might get lost by myself."

  
Theodore smiled at his father and replied, "Of course not, father. It would be my pleasure."

  
Marvolo nodded and smiled at Theodore as he said, "Take care of your father, Theodore. He tends to forget he is not as young as he really is."

 

Theonel laughed as he stood, grinning at Marvolo as he retorted, "You would know, wouldn't you, Marvolo?"

  
Marvolo turned to smile at Theonel and said, "It was nice seeing you again, Theonel. Take care of yourself."

  
Theonel nodded and bowed slightly as he whispered, "Call me if you ever need anything... Marvolo."

  
Marvolo nodded and replied, "I will. Thank you."

  
Theonel turned towards Harry and said, "It was nice meeting you, Mister Potter."

  
A small smirk appeared on Theonel's face as he said, "If it would not be too much of a trouble, I would appreciate it if you dragged Marvolo around later. He rarely gets out simply to... relax."

  
Marvolo narrowed his eyes and hissed, "Theonel."

  
Harry raised his head and grinned at Theonel as he said, "It was nice meeting you as well, Lord Nott. I promise I'll take care of Marvolo."

  
Marvolo turned to glare at Harry and Harry simply grinned at him. Theonel chuckled and said, "Thank you, Mister Potter. I look forward to meeting you again."

  
Harry nodded and replied, "The feeling is mutual, Lord Nott."

  
Theodore got up and bowed to Marvolo, "It was a pleasure seeing you once more... Marvolo."

  
Marvolo nodded at Theodore and replied, "You as well, Theodore."

  
Theodore turned to bow slightly at Harry and said, "Forgive me for leaving you alone... Harry."

  
Harry turned to smile at Theodore and replied, "Its fine, Theo. Have fun with your father."

  
"Thank you." Theodore smiled but worriedly stared at Harry as he said, "I will wait for you by the gates. Please do not leave without me. And if Blaise and the others find you alone, please promise me not to go with them. Especially Blaise!"

  
Harry chuckled softly and lowered his head as he dismissed in a playful tone, "Yes, yes. I promise not to play with other baby snakes without my Knight Theo with me. Now shoo, Theo."

  
Theodore looked at Harry worriedly for a second before he offered his arm to his father. His father gratefully wrapped his arm around Theodore's arm and, with a silent nod from Marvolo, they walked out of Three Broomsticks Inn.

  
Once they were a few feet away, Theonel cast privacy and notice-me-not charms around them wandlessly and non-verbally. They were a few spells that every Knight was required to master. Theodore waited patiently for his father to finish before sighing in relief. Theonel turned to look at his son and asked, "I must admit, your... actions towards Mister Potter is quite interesting, Theodore."

  
Theodore blushed and began leading his father to the main street of Hogsmeade as he replied, "I'm sorry, father. I'm just so used to calling him 'Little Lord' that I find it hard to say his first name."

  
"Little Lord?" Theonel raised an eyebrow at the title.

  
"That's the title Barty used for him. It simply stuck." Theodore explained with a shrug.

  
"Barty? You mean Barty Crouch Junior? He's alive?!" Theonel whispered, quickly casting a stronger privacy charm.

  
Theodore blinked and turned to look at Theonel as he said in a slight confused tone, "Well, yes. Did our lord not write about him in the letter he ordered me to send to you?"

  
Theonel shook his head an explained, "The letter simply gave a brief overview of who Marvolo Slytherin is and instructions to meet him in Hogsmeade today as well as informing me that you would be escorting Harry Potter to meet with us. It also said that I am to drag you away as soon as our lord gives Harry Potter a parchment."

  
"Er..." Theodore nervously muttered, subconsciously copying Harry, "I am... unsure of how much I can tell then..."

  
"Everything, Theodore." Theonel replied immediately, "I must know what you know so that I may be able to help our lord to the best of my capabilities."

  
Theodore gulped before nodding in resignation, "I understand..."

  
Theonel nodded and asked, "Now what is this act with Harry Potter? Is our lord planning on swaying the boy to our side or is this an elaborate plan to kill him?"

  
Theodore bit his bottom lip, rearranging his thoughts. Theonel waited patiently as his son tried to find the correct words to use. Theodore sighed and stopped walking, forcing Theonel to stop walking as well. Theodore turned his head to stare at his father as he admitted, "There's really no good way to say this..."

  
Theonel raised an eyebrow but remained quiet, listening to his son attentively, "So I will just summarize what I know and, hopefully, you can understand me."

  
Theodore took a deep breath before summarizing quickly, "Little Lord did a ritual that gave our lord his body back but now they're bound to one another until they have to do the magical marriage ritual and conceive an heir. Our lord has been in Hogwarts for a week and has been making plans in ensuring Little Lord's safety. Barty Crouch Junior is impersonating Moody as our defence professor and knows about this. The other person who knows about this is a Ravenclaw third year named Luna Lovegood who has pledged loyalty to Little Lord. She's a bit eccentric but she's a nice girl and I heard she can see magic and might be a seer but we're still unsure about that part. This entire act is to give a plausible reason to our lord's reappearance as Marvolo Slytherin and they plan this entire thing. This act will end with both Little Lord and Marvolo Slytherin falling in love and getting married by Yule in secret. That's as far as I know about their plan. Well... they plan on conceiving a child in Yule and for Little Lord to finish this year but not return for his fifth year but that's still up in air since Little Lord does not want to risk a miscarriage."

  
Theodore sighed in relief and murmured, "That feels so good to say out loud now."

  
While his son was relaxing, Theonel, on the other hand, was too busy trying to process what his son had said.

  
His lord... was getting married?

  
To Harry Potter?

  
And they were going to be magically married?!

  
Oh Merlin...

  
He just met his lord's future consort...

  
His lord's consort...

  
Bound eternally to his lord, blessed by Magic herself, second only to his lord himself...

  
Was he able to make a good impression?

  
Was he respectful enough?

  
Oh Morgana's tits!

  
That's why the boy- No! Not the boy!

  
That's why his lord's future consort had been observing him when they first met.

  
He was measuring Theonel's worth.

  
Unknown to Theodore Nott, Theonel was having a nervous breakdown, fearing he may have not passed the secret test of his lord's future consort.

 

 

 

 

 

Unknown to Theonel Nott, the reason why Harry was staring at him was simply because he looked so much like Theodore that Harry had begun musing if Theodore would grow up to look the same as Theonel.

  
Oh.

  
And he was also amused by the reverent look Theonel kept giving Voldemort and was wondering what he had to do to get the same reaction from Theodore.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I seriously enjoyed writing this chapter. Theonel is just so fun to write.
> 
> Harry and 'Marvolo' flirting was also fun to write.
> 
> Next chapter would be more of the 'romantic story' of Harry and Marvolo. XD
> 
> So… apparently Dorea and Charlus were not James’ parents (according to Pottermore). Unfortunately, I’ve already have plans for Harry that requires Dorea as his grandmother so in this ‘verse, Dory and Charchar still gave birth to James.


	12. The Son of The Dark Lord

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hogsmeade day... part 2.
> 
> Also known as: Marvolo and Harry talking... most of the time XD

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning:  
> 1 unbeta'ed as usual  
> 2 Voldemort will be called 'Marvolo' in the narration because he's acting as Marvolo Slytherin, the son of Lord Voldemort  
> 3 Back to Harry's POV  
> 4 Non-canon explanation of the difference between Light and Dark magic  
> 5 This… might actually be a bit Sirius…

Getting bored with frowning at his lack of knowledge in spells, Harry broke the silence that came over their table after the Notts' departure with a nonchalant question, "So what's it like being the Dark Lord's secret son?"

  
Marvolo raised an eyebrow at the question before asking back, "What's it like being the vanquisher of the Dark Lord in question?"

  
Harry wryly smiled as he replied honestly, "Stressful. My entire life is everyone's business. I can't talk to snakes without people thinking I'm the next Dark Lord."

  
Marvolo chuckled softly and commented, "You? The next Dark Lord? And how will you make the Wizarding World quiver in fear? By staring at them with those big puppy dog eyes of yours?"

  
Harry snorted and retorted, "I would make a cute Dark Lord."

  
Harry raised his head and grinned at Marvolo as he proclaimed, "My mark would be a head of an adorable puppy with big green eyes inside a crown of lilies that yips each time I summon them."

  
Marvolo covered his mouth and his shoulders trembled as he tried to suppress his laughter. Harry went back to writing on the parchment as he commented, "I don't understand why you cover your mouth when you laugh. I bet you have a nice smile."

  
Marvolo dropped his hand and stared at his untouched cup of tea. He wryly smiled as he said, "Durmstrang has a more militaristic practice than Hogwarts..."

  
Harry raised his head to stare at Marvolo as he asked curiously, "So why didn't you just enrolled in Hogwarts?"

  
"The son of the Dark Lord that terrorized Magical Britain enrolling in a Britain magical school?" Marvolo asked which made Harry frown.

 

"Good point." Harry smiled sadly as he mused, "They already antagonize me and I supposedly saved them when I was a baby. They'll probably burn you alive."

  
"You don't sound like Britain is fond of you." Marvolo commented, staring at Harry with an unreadable expression.

  
Harry raised his head to stare at Marvolo as he admitted, "They're not."

  
Harry cleared his throat and handed the parchment to Marvolo as he mumbled, "I'm done."

  
Marvolo took the parchment from Harry's hand and skimmed through it. He frowned slightly as he commented, "I expected that you wouldn't even know the spells from Durmstrang. They are borderline Dark. Completely legal by Ministry standard, of course, but it would be the type of spells you wouldn't see in a Light-based curriculum as Hogwarts. The other spells which are parts of your Defence of the Dark Arts curriculum though..."

  
Harry groaned and rested his forehead on the table as he explained, "They say Hogwarts has never got a competent DADA professor for a long time now. They always change every year. Some retire, some quit, some just... disappear."

  
"Aaah." Marvolo nodded as he remembered, "The rumoured DADA curse."

  
Marvolo chuckled before leaning towards Harry, eyes shining with merit, as he conspiratorially whispered, "I heard from a very good source that it was the Dark Lord who cursed the position."

  
"No!" Harry whispered back, his eyes widening. He leaned towards Marvolo, their shoulders bumping into one another, as he asked, "Voldemort cursed the position? Why? Did he finally snap over the blatant vilification of Dark magic?"

  
Marvolo scoffed and shook his head. He pushed his sit towards Harry before whispering, "No. He went back to Hogwarts to apply for the DADA position but he was rejected by Albus Dumbledore."

  
Harry raised an eyebrow and asked, "Voldemort? As the DADA professor?"

  
Marvolo shrugged and replied nonchalantly, "Hogwarts was his home. He wanted to near it, I suppose."

  
Harry wryly smiled as he added, "And Dumbledore thought he was planning something evil by applying for the job."

  
Marvolo leaned back and replied, "Dumbledore never trusted Voldemort. He never gave him the benefit of the doubt."

  
Harry stared at the man in front of him silently. Their link was silent but Harry was more sensitive to the magic around them right now and he could feel the slight quivering of the older wizard's magic. It was quivering in repressed rage and some emotion Harry couldn't quite understand.

  
He supposed it was pain? Or was it sorrow?

  
Regardless, Harry couldn't pinpoint it because he did not fully understand either emotional pain or sorrow.

  
That morning when Voldemort had left using his Invisibility Cloak and the Marauder's Map, Harry had felt his magic slowly disappearing. It made Harry feel so sick. His entire body felt sluggish and cold. His link with Voldemort felt dead as well but there was... something.

  
Harry couldn't explain it well.

  
He felt as if something was tugging his magical core, trying to force the magic out but couldn't.

  
When he tried to understand what it was he was feeling while waiting to be able to go to Hogsmeade with Theo, his mind had simply conjured the image of a black diary.

  
Harry had pretty much dragged Theo to their meeting place, his magical core slowly releasing his magic as they came nearer to their destination.

  
When he had entered the inn, Harry's breath hitched and he almost moaned when he felt the chains on his magic disappeared. He shivered when he felt Voldemort's magic coil around him. He never recognized his magic before. He knew what it felt like, true, but he never realized that his magic had been coiling around him the entire time. It was only after they finally reunited that he realized that he had become magically sensitive to Voldemort's magic. That he had always been sensitive to Voldemort’s magic and simply did not pay it any attention…

  
The truth was it took a few minutes for Harry to notice that he was slowly losing access to his magic that morning since he had learned to push his magic into his core since he was a child. He had done it instinctively, fuelled by the desire to not do any 'freakishness'. He may have gotten used to the physical pain his relatives inflicted when he did something 'freaky' but the 'punishment' he received was something he tried to avoid as much as possible. He always feared that one day, his uncle would lose himself to the moment and injure Harry more than he could possibly survive. That possibility was something Harry would rather not find out as much as possible.

  
When he got to Hogwarts, suppressing his magic had become subconscious to Harry. He only took as much as he needed to perform moderately at class. That was not to say that he was hiding his true potential though. He had tried to let his magic out once but his magic had lashed out at the sudden freedom and, before he knew it, every item and furniture in the Gryffindor common room had begun floating.

  
Harry had panicked. It had been in the middle of the Yule holidays and everyone else was still asleep but Harry feared someone might wake up and see him, see the freakiness around him. That panic had caused him to scribble frantically at the diary that had been the one to push him to unleash his magic in the first place. He had felt the diary's amusement at his current predication, a feeling that Harry now recognized as something quite similar to how he could feel some of Voldemort's feelings even if the older wizard wasn't trying.

  
Harry had threatened to throw him to the fireplace if he didn't give a suggestion soon and, as if reading Harry's threat, the common room's fireplace erupted to a big fire that roared like a lion. Harry swore he saw the flame morphed into the face of a roaring lion when he heard the roar. Tom (Harry couldn't help but call the weird diary Tom even now) had relented when Harry wrote about the flaming lion.

  
Apparently he didn't want to experiment if Harry's accidental magical fire would burn him.

  
With Tom's helpful suggestion of 'just calm down, you idiot', Harry managed to force his magic back to his core slowly. As he continued to push most of his magic down, the furniture and other items slowly floated down as well. The fire had been the last to disappear.

  
After that display of untamed raw magic, Tom had concluded that Harry's suppression of his magic had caused it to lash out. When Harry had begrudgingly written (vaguely) why he suppressed his magic in the first place, Tom wrote that his magic's growth may have been stunted because of what Harry had done. As far as Harry's magic was concern, he was still back in his relatives' place and everyone and everything in the vicinity was a threat. Harry's magic had floated everything away from Harry except the diary which may mean that his magic was instinctively keeping away everything it had considered a threat (which turned out to be everything). They both deemed that it would be too dangerous for Harry to release his magic for now. Tom had suggested trying again once he was of age. By then, Harry should have enough experience with magic in general to be able to control his own magic better.

  
Why it did not float the diary though... Harry and Tom never did find out a plausible reason behind that one inconsistency. Tom had smugly joked that it might mean Harry adored him. Harry had told him politely to shove it.

  
He did adore the diary but there was no way in seven hells he would write that. There was no need to stroke the damn diary's already large ego.

  
The memory of the Tom Riddle inside the diary almost brought a nostalgic smile on Harry's face.

  
He wasn't lying when he said the diary was a fountain of information he had wished to keep but that wasn't the only reason why he had regretted destroying the diary. He had become... fond of the Tom Riddle in the diary. When they had started talking, he didn't trust the diary. The diary was too nice... too understanding. He knew the diary had just been humouring him and making him trust him but Harry had enjoyed their talks nevertheless. It was easy to just be himself to a diary when the words he wrote disappeared. Tom Riddle had been his secret back then. The first person he could talk with freely. He still kept his mask most of the time even while writing but there were instances where his mask fell, where he had written something impulsively simply because they were conversing with one another and it had been easy to get along the flow when talking to Tom.

  
He had loved those talks. His blatant teasing of Voldemort these past days were because he looked like an older Tom Riddle, he sounded like a more easily riled up Tom Riddle and his reactions were like a more composed Tom Riddle.

  
They were the same people and Harry felt like he had reunited with the diary once more.

  
He never realized that he had grown this fond for the diary until now.

  
He never realized that he had grown this fond for Tom Marvolo Riddle.

  
"If..." Harry stared at Marvolo **Voldemort** _ ~~Tom~~_ and bit his bottom lip, staring at the older man's lips before returning his gaze to those piercing dark brown eyes that felt so wrong on his face, "If Dumbledore had given the position to Voldemort... would he still have been a Dark Lord?"

  
Would Tom Riddle have _~~died~~_ fallen?

  
Marvolo stared at Harry for a few seconds, his entire expression unreadable. Harry wondered if he had stepped out of line.

  
A bitter smile appeared on Marvol-

  
No.

  
A bitter smile appeared on Voldemort's face and he admitted softly, "No. Lord Voldemort would most probably never have terrorized Britain had he become a professor of his beloved school."

  
Internally, Harry wondered what it felt like to be so attached to something that his entire future depended on it.

  
He was fond of a lot of things.

  
Some greater than others.

  
His godfather, his werewolf, his owl...

  
His wand...

  
The broom his godfather presented him...

  
But they were all replaceable.

  
Perhaps not Hedwig, Sirius and Remus but Harry knew he could live without them, he knew he could throw each of them to a cliff if it meant his survival.

  
He knew it was cruel. He knew he was messed up but Harry had stopped caring.

  
Harry had stopped trying to become too attached to anything.

  
When he told Voldemort about the betrayal of his 'friend', he didn't tell him the entire truth. The truth that made Harry realized that it would just be so much easier to not care. It would be harder for his relatives to hurt him if he didn't care and Harry survived because of that ideology.

  
That's why he was confused about his own feelings at the knowledge that Tom Riddle had been attached to Hogwarts.

  
That Tom Riddle had loved something so dearly his entire future could have changed had circumstances been different.

 

Harry thought it was foolish yet he also felt a bit jealous that someone like Tom Riddle could still form attachment when he himself could ( _would_ ) not.

  
Does that make Tom Riddle _Voldemort_ more human?

  
Does that make him _BoyFreak_ more inhuman?

  
Harry froze when he felt Voldemort place his free hand on top of Harry's. Voldemort hissed softly, " << You're still a child. Simply because you have not found something you are attached to do not mean you won't.  >>"

  
Harry felt a pang of anger and his magic threatened to lash out at the thought that Voldemort had been listening to his thoughts. He reined his magic back before it could attack the man in front of him and tried to clear his thoughts.

  
Of course. Their link was open and everything Harry thought of was transmitted to Voldemort.

 

He wondered if Voldemort had been able to hear his wandering thoughts concerning his past… his past with the diary…

  
Harry pulled his hand out of Voldemort's grasp and leaned back, a blank expression on his face that was betrayed by the bitterness in his hiss, "<< Attachment makes us weak, Tom. We can't afford any weakness. >>"

  
A bitter smile appeared on Voldemort's face as he commented, "<< Perhaps... >>"

  
"You were able to cover most of your third year spell work for DADA." Voldemo-

  
Harry shook his head and tried to regain his composure.

  
Voldemort and Harry's conversation was over.

  
It left a bitter taste on Harry's mouth and he drowned it with his cooling Butterbeer.

  
Voldemort didn't say those words. Marvolo did, staring at the parchment in his hand. Marvolo raised his head to stare at Harry when Harry didn't answer him and Harry placed his glass back on the table before answering with a grin, "Our DADA professor during our third year was good."

  
Marvolo raised an eyebrow and said, "I heard he was a werewolf."

  
Harry raised his own eyebrow as he retorted, "So?"

  
"You don't think they're dangerous?" Marvolo asked which made Harry narrow his eyes at him.

  
"Professor Lupin is one of the kindest wizards I have ever met. Just because there are dangerous werewolves out there does not mean every werewolf is dangerous." Harry defended, "That kind of thinking is the same as saying 'since every evil wizards and witches are Dark then all Dark wizards and witches are evil'."

  
"You don't think they are?" Marvolo asked sombrely.

  
"No." Harry replied immediately and shrugged as he expounded, "Sure, there are some Dark wizards and witches who are arrogant prats but not all of them. Theo, for example. I've only gotten close to Theo lately but he's been nothing but kind and understanding. We have fun and we goof around like regular kids. Then there's you."

  
"Me?" Marvolo repeated, raising an eyebrow once more.

  
"You're a Dark wizard, aren't you?" Harry asked and Marvolo silently nodded so Harry continued, "But here you are, talking to me, helping me in surviving this tournament."

  
Marvolo smiled as he mused, "Yes... I suppose that would make me a good Dark wizard, wouldn't it?"

  
"I honestly don't understand the difference between a Dark wizard and a Light wizard." Harry admitted with a shrug, "Dark, Light... it's all magic in the end, right?"

  
"True." Marvolo nodded and explained, "The simplest explanation to their difference would be... desire."

  
"Desire?" Harry repeated, tilting his head.

  
"Light magic require an actual picture of what you wish to do." Marvolo explained, placing the parchment on table and took the quill from Harry's hand. He circled the spell 'Wingardium Leviosa - Levitation Spell' before continuing, "For example, the levitation charm requires you have a clear image on the thing you want to levitate. It would be better to picture that thing floating as well. Simply thinking about it does not mean you desire it with your entire being. On the other hand..."

  
Marvolo circled the spell 'Crucio - Cruciatus Spell' before continuing, "The Cruciatus spell, and the Unforgivables in general, requires the caster to wish for their target to suffer. The spell does not need you to have a clear image of your target writhing on the ground. It needs you to wish for it, to desire it. It is that desire that channels your magic into fuelling the spell itself. If your desire is not enough then you cannot cast the spell successfully. Dark based spells are a lot harder to master because they don't just need you to understand what they do; they need you to desire it with all your being. That's why casting an Unforgivable means a life sentence in Azkaban. By casting an Unforgivable, you are telling everyone that you desire with all your being for your target to suffer, to die or to be under your control."

  
Harry frowned and asked, "I don't get it... What's the difference between picturing it and desiring it? I mean... Okay, I can picture something without actually desiring it but should that just be the only deciding factor for something to be Light or Dark?"

  
Marvolo smiled wryly and said, "There is another more... controversial explanation..."

  
"Oh?" Harry raised an eyebrow.

  
"Emotions." Marvolo said, making Harry tilt his head once more. Marvolo tapped the quill over the levitation spell as he explained, "Light based magic does not require emotions. They simply work because of a clear image just like I explained while Dark based magic..."

  
Marvolo tapped the quill over the Cruciatus spell, "... require emotions, the stronger the emotion, the more powerful the spell. But you must be able to control your emotions at the same time. You must be able to bring out a strong emotion without losing yourself to it. If you do lose yourself to your emotions, either the spell wouldn't work or it will go out of control and may even harm you."

  
"That... seems simpler..." Harry blinked before asking, "Why is it considered controversial?"

  
"Because of its implication." Marvolo replied, "It would mean that Light wizards and witches, those who have an easier time casting Light spells, are more logical while Dark wizards and witches, those who have an easier time casting Dark spells, are more emotional."

  
Harry raised an eyebrow before he hissed, "<< Or the Light wizards and witches are less in control of their emotions and cannot use Dark spells because they lack the needed control. >>"

  
Marvolo's smile turned into a smirk for a second before he continued, "And that would mean some spells which are considered Light are actually Dark."

  
Marvolo placed the quill on top of another spell. Harry read the spell name and his eyes widened. Marvolo's smirk grew and he asked, "Surprising, isn't it?"

  
"The Patronus charm?!" Harry shouted, making the other patrons turn to look at him. Harry covered his mouth and Marvolo chuckled.

  
Marvolo circled the spell 'Expecto Patronum - Patronus Charm' as he explained, "Dementors are considered Dark creatures because of their effect to others, that unnerving gloom and despair... They affect the emotions of those around them. By that way of reasoning, werewolves are also considered Dark creatures because their emotions are affected during full moons. Their loss of sense and humanity is because they revert back to the base emotions of their wolf. If their wolf is angry then they become blood-thirsty werewolves. If their wolf is content or happy then they become calm werewolves who only attack the trespassers of their territory."

  
Marvolo tapped the Patronus charm as he backtracked, "Returning back to the classification of the Patronus charm, the basic instruction given when learning the Patronus charm is to remember the happiest memory you have, correct?"

  
Harry nodded, staring at Marvolo silently as the older wizard continued, "That means this charm is fuelled by happiness, a kind of emotion. The success of casting a Patronus does not depend on the memory itself but the emotion behind it and the caster's control over their emotion. Losing yourself in your memory would simply produce a wisp of light or nothing at all. Forcing too much emotion into it will produce a larger Patronus. There have been cases of wizards and witches producing a blinding light, sometimes accompanied by a large but uncontrollable Patronus, as well. According to some Magic Theorists, these cases happen because the wizards and witches force too much emotion into the charm. It didn't need to be happy. The Patronus can easily be activated by an initial bout of happiness and fuelled by other emotions such as desperation or fear. That mixture of emotions is dangerous when casting Dark spells in general. A mixture of emotions could mean a lack of control and your spell may morph into something else. That's why the British Ministry of Magic forbid most of Dark based spells. These spells, without proper control, will only go berserk and cause harm to the caster and to those around them."

  
Marvolo placed the quill down and turned to look at Harry. Noticing Harry was still staring at him owlishly, Marvolo tilted his head slightly and asked, "Is there something on my face?"

  
"Huh?" Harry blinked dumbly, causing a smile to appear on Marvolo's face at the adorable expression Harry had. Harry shook his head and confessed with red cheeks, "N-no. It's just... Er... I was just thinking you make a good teacher..."

  
Marvolo's smile turned more sardonically as he replied, "Is that so..."

  
"Er..." Harry scratched his cheek as he ranted, "Listening to your explanation... well... The way I see it, Dark and Light shouldn't matter. We're all wizards and witches. We have our strengths and our weaknesses. Sure, some of us may not have enough control over our emotions or some of us may have perfect control over them but that doesn't mean we're good or evil. We have our good days and our bad days. But at the end of the day, we're all just... people."

 

Harry shrugged as he said, "I guess I'm just saying... er... I don't think our natural inclination should dictate us as good or evil. It's not about who we are but what we do... I guess..."

  
Marvolo stared at him for a few seconds silently. Harry blinked when he saw Marvolo's lips curved to a bitter smile and he froze when he felt Marvolo's hand caress his cheek as the older man whispered, "I wished I had met you sooner, Harry Potter."

  
"Eh?"

  
Marvolo dropped his hand and grabbed the quill once more. He began circling certain spells on the parchment as he commented, "Perhaps you can be the change our world needs. Perhaps... you can be the one who will finally unite both Light and Dark."

  
Harry chuckled and replied, "I doubt it. I think someone like you would be a better candidate."

  
Marvolo raised his head to smile sardonically as he retorted, "Magical Britain has no place for the Dark Lord's son."

  
Harry tilted his head and asked, "Is that why you stayed away for so long?"

  
"It is one of the reasons, yes." Marvolo admitted, lowering his head to stare at the parchment once more as he continued, "I also wished to see the world, to gain more experience and knowledge."

  
"Then why are you here now?" Harry asked curiously, staring at Marvolo's face.

  
"I owe Theonel a lot." Marvolo's smile turned softer as he confessed, "But saying that is simply an excuse. The truth is..."

  
Marvolo raised his head and stared at Harry as he said, "I simply wanted to know you."

  
Harry smiled sardonically as he asked, "You wanted to know the Boy-Who-Lived?"

  
"No. I have no interest over the Boy-Who-Lived." Marvolo stared at Harry and leaned forward as he whispered, "I want to know you, Harry Potter."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yup. Ending this chapter here because... uuhh... no reason, really. XD
> 
> Yes, this entire conversation was choked filled with half-truths and backstory hints underneath the blatant lies.
> 
> Before anyone ask about the little inconsistency brought by Harry's Crucio being cold and without rage, that's actually an example to why there are two theories about the difference of Dark and Light magic at the moment. Voldemort's Crucio is an example of the Emotion theory while Harry's Crucio is an example of the Desire theory.
> 
> In case anyone is wondering “How are you going to explain the House-elves as Dark creatures then?”  
> My answer would be:  
> Total Ministry of Magic bullshit. Dark creatures get a bad rep because they’re ‘Dark’ and the populace think Dark = evil. The Ministry simply want to regulate House-elf magic which is a dangerous thing. Although, one can also argue that House-elf magic is based on desire, making it an example of the Desire Theory. On the other hand, emotions are unnecessary in the process and only a clear picture of what must be done also fuels House-elf magic so it can also be argued that House-elves are Light magic. XD


	13. A Fake Love Story

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hogsmeade day... last part-ish.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I suppose it’s sorta appropriate this gets posted during Valentine’s day… XD
> 
> Warning:  
> 1 unbeta'ed as usual  
> 2 Voldemort will be called 'Marvolo' because he's acting as Marvolo Slytherin, the son of Lord Voldemort  
> 3 Most is in Harry's POV but kinda turns to Voldemort's POV towards the end  
> 4 Remember that most of their lines are half-truths or flat-out lies. Proceed with caution

After that blatant expression of interest from Marvolo, Harry had awkwardly segued the conversation back to what Harry needed to learn. Marvolo had written numerous titles of books Harry needed to look at to get familiarized with the spells Marvolo thought he needed to prioritize. The first in their agenda were offensive spells since most of what Harry knew was defensive duelling spells. Defence was good and all but that's not to say offensive spells would not help Harry in the tournament.

  
When Marvolo had suggested they should meet once a week or, if it was not feasible, they could owl each other once a week so Marvolo may know about Harry's progress, Harry had simply grinned and said he can meet Marvolo once a week. Marvolo was interested on how that could be possible but Harry simply wrote a meeting place at the edge of the parchment they had been using. Once Marvolo had read it, Harry cast a spell to make the words disappear.

  
Once their plan for next week was done, Harry noticed there was still an hour before he needed to meet Theodore and he suggested they walk around the Hogsmeade. Marvolo seemed a bit interested in seeing Hogsmeade so he agreed. On the way to Honeydukes, Harry asked as they walk with their arms looped around one another, "This the first time you've been to Hogsmeade?"

  
Harry had blushed at Marvolo's gesture back in the inn but could not find the courage to reject the older wizard's advances. It seemed rude to reject the older man’s gentleman advances (not that Harry had any real experience with that in the first place).

  
"Yes." Marvolo replied, looking around as they walk, "I have never stayed in Britain for too long."

  
"Oh?"

  
"It seemed too dangerous before." Marvolo admitted and leaned close to Harry to whisper, "Britain would most definitely not like it if they knew the Dark Lord's son was walking amid them."

  
"You're not your father." Harry reminded him with a frown.

  
Marvolo smiled wryly as he retorted, "Yet the sins of the father reflect back to the son."

  
"That's just stupid." Harry wrinkled his nose and said, "Only a mindless sheep would label someone without even trying to get to know them."

  
"Your idealistic view of the world should be treasured." Marvolo commented and Harry grinned when he heard the hidden insult at the blatant lie, "Unfortunately, the world is not as kind as you think it is."

  
"I know it isn't." Harry replied, staring straight ahead with a wry smile quite similar to Marvolo's, "I just... I suppose I hope it had been as kind as I wish it would be."

  
Marvolo stared at him as he asked, "You speak from experience."

  
Harry smiled bitterly as he cryptically replied, "Let's just say both the muggle world and the magical world are not as kind as I wish they were."

  
Before Marvolo could reply, Harry had opened the door to Honeydukes and dragged the older wizard inside. The shop was filled with so many students that Harry was pushed towards Marvolo. Marvolo tightened his grip on Harry's arm to keep the younger wizard from getting swept away from him. Harry dragged Marvolo towards the chocolate section, not paying any mind to the fact that he was getting pushed by and pushing back other students. Once they reached the chocolate section, Harry grinned at Marvolo and said, "Pick one."

  
Marvolo simply raised an eyebrow at Harry's 'order'. Around them, many students and other patrons were staring at them and some even dared whisper but neither of the two paid attention.

  
Harry pouted and explained, "I'll buy you any chocolate you want as a thank you for helping me."

  
Marvolo hummed for a moment before replying, "There's no need for you do such a thing."

  
"I know I don't." Harry smiled shyly at Marvolo and said, "I just want to."

  
Marvolo chuckled softly and asked in an amused resigned tone, "You won't let this go until I pick one, will you?"

  
"Nope." Harry replied with a grin.

  
"Very well. I shall humour you." Marvolo picked a piece of milk chocolate shaped like a rose and handed it to Harry. Harry raised an eyebrow at the choice but Marvolo simply pushed the chocolate rose to Harry's hands. Harry shrugged and took the rose, dragging Marvolo towards the cashier. He grabbed a few boxes of chocolate frogs along the way and paid for all of them. He handed the milk chocolate rose to Marvolo and dragged him out of the store, continuing to not pay any attention to the stares nor the increasing whispering they got from the rest of the student body. He knew it won’t be long before the rumours start but he paid no attention to it. His entire attention was to the older man next to him.

  
Once they were back outside, Marvolo finally asked, "Is it normal for your fellow schoolmates to stare at you?"

  
Harry shrugged and replied nonchalantly, "Yeah. It got old when I was in third year but its back full force now because of the tournament."

  
Marvolo stared at Harry for a moment before saying, "You don't like the attention."

  
Harry smiled wryly and turned to look at Marvolo as he asked, "What gave it away?"

  
Marvolo returned Harry's wry smile with one of his own as he replied, "I know the feeling."

  
Harry gave an ungraceful snort, covering his mouth immediately. He began giggling as he led Marvolo towards the outskirts of Hogsmeade. Marvolo simply stared at him with an amused smile playing on his lips, waiting for Harry to finally say, "That's just... too funny."

  
"I do not see the humour you see, I'm afraid." Marvolo admitted but continued to smile amusingly at Harry's antics.

  
"It's just..." Harry took deep breaths in between giggles before finally choking out, "... funny... that... you would be the one to understand me. The one to understand... the Boy-Who-Lived... is the son of the... Dark Lord he... supposedly vanquished..."

  
Harry giggled for a few more seconds before finally sighing. They had stopped in a clearing overlooking Hogsmeade. Harry leaned closer towards Marvolo for warmth as he explained, "No one really understood me. How could they? They don't know what it is like to be me."

  
"And who are you?" Marvolo asked, staring at Hogsmeade as well.

  
"I'm just Harry." Harry replied with a shrug, "I'm not this all-powerful benevolent saviour. I'm not a selfish self-centred fame-whore."

  
Harry chuckled sadly and added, "I'm not even a normal child with a happy childhood."

  
Harry turned to stare at Marvolo and admitted softly, "I'm a broken child that doesn't know what it means to love or to be loved."

  
Harry chuckled emptily and turned to look at Hogsmeade. He smiled bitterly as he mused, "I wonder why I'm telling you these things. I've never told these to anyone."

  
"Maybe you felt that I would understand." Marvolo suggested softly, making Harry turn to stare at Marvolo.

  
Harry's bitter smile turned to an empty cold smile as he whispered, "No one will ever understand how I feel."

  
Harry pulled away from Marvolo and embraced himself to keep warm against the cold as he said, "I think... I should leave now."

  
"Why?" Marvolo asked, staring at Harry but not moving from his spot.

  
"Because I've just met you and I'm already pouring my heart out to you like a bloody cliché main character in an overly cliché romantic muggle cinema that only has an hour and a half play time." Harry replied with a wry smile before adding, "This isn't me. I have more restraint than this."

  
"I should have more restraint than this." Harry corrected in a cold hard tone. Harry's smile wavered as he stared at Marvolo with sad eyes, "Maybe it's because I've been alone for a while now because of this bloody tournament. Maybe it's because my entire school is against me because of something I didn't do. Maybe it's because you're... different... I don't know."

  
Harry shook his head and took a step back as he said, "I need some time. I need to think about this."

  
"Of course." Marvolo nodded and said softly, "I will see you next week..."

  
Harry nodded and replied in a playful manner, "Yeah. I'll be sure to do my homework."

  
Before Harry could turn around to leave, Marvolo called his name, "Harry."

  
Harry turned around to look back at Marvolo and the older wizard offered the milk chocolate rose to him. Harry frowned and was about to speak when Marvolo said, "Some say the Dark Lord does not know how to love."

  
Harry tilted his head at that sentence, unsure on what to say. Marvolo gently grabbed Harry's wrist and placed the rose on Harry's cold palm as he continued, "There was a rumour about how his mother had conceived him while his father was under the influence of a love potion. Many wizards and witches believe that a child conceived because of a love potion will never understand what it means to love."

  
"That's stupid." Harry commented, rolling the chocolate rose in his hand, "Unless you can prove that the ingredients of a love potion would influence the development of the foetus, that seems more like an allegory of 'love potions are bad so don't use them'."

  
"Perhaps..." Marvolo replied cryptically as he smiled softly, "I am here right now, aren't I?"

  
Harry’s grip on the flower tightened without his permission. Unable to stop himself, he raised his head to stare at Marvolo and hissed, "<< Don't pretend you feel anything for me, Tom. >>"

  
"<< Do you believe I am incapable of love, Harry? >>" The older wizard asked, staring intently at Harry.

  
Harry gave a bitter cold smile as he replied, "<< I believe that you're too smart to confuse fondness for love. >>"

  
Harry took a step forward and whispered in a mocking soft tone, "<< I am fond of you, Tom, and I am sure you have become fond of me as well but this act we are doing? This fake love story between Harry Potter and Marvolo Slytherin? >>"

  
"<< It's all fake. >>" Harry harshly hissed and reminded him, "<< Don't get caught up by it. Don’t you dare… >>"

 

Harry’s words faltered as he got a hold of himself.

 

Dare what?

 

Why was he reacting so negatively over Marvolo _Voldemort_ ’s fake declaration of love?

 

Was it because…

 

Harry closed his eyes and whispered, “<< Please don’t promise me eternity… >>”

  
Not giving him any time to process those words which only meant something to Harry, the younger wizard took a step back and gave Marvolo a soft sad smile as he said, "Perhaps Voldemort being conceived by a love potion is just a rumour. Maybe... I'm the one who had been conceived by a love potion instead."

  
"Why?" Marvolo asked, staring at Harry with soft eyes.

  
"Because I don't think I know how to love." Harry admitted, his words choking slightly at the admission, before whispering, "Goodbye, Marvolo."

  
Harry turned around and walked away from Marvolo, following the path back to Hogsmeade.

  
Marvolo continued to stare at Harry silently until he couldn't see him anymore.

  
Slowly, he felt his magic returning to his core.

  
He sighed tiredly and sat on one of the big rocks littering the desolated clearing. He placed his hands on his kneecaps and stared at Hogsmeade as his mind wandered.

  
Harry's link was slowly getting quieter but the young wizard's musing still haunted him.

  
How can one so young be so... jaded?

  
He wondered if it was his fault. A part of him believed Harry would have been better off dead that fateful Samhain night.

  
He remembered James Potter. He remembered Lily Potter nee Evans. They were both idealistic fools who believed that the world is black and white.

  
Lily Potter also believed in redemption and change.

  
James Potter believed that Light is good.

  
But Harry James Potter...

  
Harry believed the world was a disgusting dark grey hue and everyone would betray everyone sooner or later.

  
Redemption and change were both foreign concepts to Harry.

  
Light and Dark meant nothing to him. Good and evil were both part of mankind, regardless of their magical inclination.

  
The boy's overly developed imagination was a defence mechanism.

  
The world was too cruel and painful so he hid in the colourful imaginations he conjured. His magic was repressed into his core because he had been conditioned to hide his gift.

  
He hid who he really was because he believed he was broken and no one wanted a broken child.

  
Harry was too young but, at the same time, too old.

  
He was both mentally immature and mature at the same time.

  
Harry made Tom Riddle seem like a normal child in comparison.

  
He could not deny that he had grown... fond of the child this past week. It was hard not to when Harry had been an entertaining companion and a fresh change to the grovelling idiots and fanatic loyalists he had been surrounded with. Harry seemed more or less in tune with him and he knew it was because Harry had interacted with his diary, with Tom Riddle. Who was he but the remains of Tom Riddle?

  
He didn't even have half of Tom Riddle's soul.

  
The Dark Rituals he had performed during the last years of the first Wizarding War had destroyed his mind. In exchange for power, he had reverted to his primal instinct of destroying all that had stand in his way.

  
But now...

  
He could still feel the power he had acquired coursing through his body but his mind remained intact.

  
The ritual Harry Potter had performed had returned his body and mind back to its prime state yet left the additional magical prowess he had obtained.

  
It almost seemed too good to be true.

  
His greatest enemy, the boy prophesied to end him, had been the one to give him the greatest gift of all.

  
And both Tom Riddle and Voldemort rewarded those who aid them.

  
Harry Potter was to be rewarded.

  
But what can he give to a boy who simply wanted to survive?

  
It was a cruel twist of fate.

  
He knew Harry was not living. He was simply surviving, existing...

  
In retrospective, Harry was worse than Tom Riddle.

  
Tom Riddle wanted to be someone, wanted to be great.

  
Harry simply wanted to continue existing.

  
To what end?

  
From the way Harry's thought process worked, it seemed the boy did not even have an answer to that question.

  
It infuriated him and, at the same time, it saddened him.

  
Here was a magical child who could become great if he wanted to but the boy did not want any of it. To Harry, greatness is simply another burden, another pain.

  
But he would not let Harry fade into the background. He would pull Harry with him at the top where they should be.

  
The Dark Lord and his Consort...

  
It wasn't love. He knew Harry was right about that.

  
Harry was a distorted mirror of what Tom Riddle could have been.

  
Harry was the personification of all of Tom Riddle's and Voldemort's mistakes.

  
Harry was his.

  
Voldemort's.

  
Tom Riddle's.

  
Marvolo Slytherin's.

  
Perhaps for Harry, the love story between Marvolo Slytherin and Harry Potter was fake.

  
It was fake.

  
But not all of it.

  
Harry's loose lips were not because he was pretending to be the sweet naive but abused Boy-Who-Lived. His loose lips were because he was talking to both Marvolo and Voldemort.

  
Because he was talking to Tom Riddle.

  
Tom Riddle, Voldemort and Marvolo Slytherin were all broken parts of the same person.

  
Tom Riddle was the past.

  
Voldemort was the present.

  
Marvolo Slytherin was the future.

  
"Marvolo..."

  
He turned around and smirked as he saw Theonel walking towards him. Marvolo nodded as he greeted back, "Theonel."

  
Once his loyal Knight was right beside him and had cast all the necessary privacy charms, he asked, "How was Hogsmeade?"

  
"Busier." Theonel replied with a sigh, "Walking around made me feel old."

  
Marvolo chuckled and reminded him playfully, "You are old."

  
Theonel grinned as he retorted, "I honestly do not want to hear that from you."

  
Marvolo gave him a small smirk and they both stared at Hogsmeade. Marvolo stood and asked, "Is Theodore with Harry?"

  
"Yes. We saw him waiting by the gates. He was..." Theonel pursed his lips as he tried to find the correct word to use the solemn look his lord's consort had, "... lost in thoughts."

  
"I am not surprised." Marvolo admitted, smiling wryly as he asked, "Do you remember what the Knights' stand on magical children was?"

  
"Of course." Theonel replied proudly.

  
"Harry is a child that the Knights should have protected." Marvolo said, making Theonel's eyes widened. Marvolo turned to smile wryly at Theonel as he mused, "Perhaps this is Magic's way of punishing me for my foolishness. Right in front of me is the very child I and you, my Knights, have wished to save. A child I had pushed into the very direction I wanted to keep everyone away from."

  
"My lord..." Theonel could not help it. It wasn't Marvolo, son of Voldemort, who was talking anymore. It was Tom Riddle, his king, his lord.

  
It seemed so cruel now.

  
His lord was to marry a magical child he had wanted to save but, instead, had helped destroyed.

  
"Perhaps..." Theonel's throat felt dry as he suggested, "This is for the best?"

  
His lord's magic flared threateningly around Theonel and the Lord of House Nott is reminded that his lord was still as cruel as before, was still unforgiving to those who cross the line.

  
Theonel wanted to kneel but stopped himself as he continued, "Harry Potter can be the anchor that keeps you from spiralling out of control."

  
His lord's magic stilled at those words and Theonel pressed on, "Tom Riddle fell because there was no one to hold him up. Voldemort continued to fall until he had fallen too deep to crawl out of the abyss. But you... Marvolo Slytherin still has a chance. Harry Potter may be the very child Tom Riddle had failed to save and the same child Voldemort had condemned to hell but he could be a reminder to Marvolo Slytherin. He can be the one who would keep Marvolo Slytherin from falling like Tom Riddle, from falling too deep like Voldemort."

  
His lord's lips curved into an amused wry smile as he commented, "You think too highly of Harry. That little menace would simply let me fall if it meant his survival. Theodore's image of Harry is quite skewered."

  
Theonel chuckled and admitted, "Theodore's actions towards Harry Potter reminded me too much of my actions towards Tom Riddle. I am both pleased and very embarrassed."

  
His lord chuckled softly before explaining, "It's that handmaiden of his. She told Theodore that he would be Harry's first Knight. Your son gobbled the idea eagerly."

  
"Handmaiden? Ah. Luna Lovegood, I assume?" Theonel raised an eyebrow as he commented, "I have heard some interesting things about her from Theodore."

  
"I am not surprised." His lord commented, "That girl is quite fascinating. Her loyalty to Harry is quite similar to Bella yet she seems so harmless. Her abilities are still under scrutiny, of course, but Harry already adores her."

  
"Oh?"

  
"Do not mistake Harry for a normal child, Theonel." His lord warned, "He detaches himself from everything. Adoration and fondness for him are merely fleeting emotions that he can easily discard if necessary."

  
Theonel wryly smiled and stared at his lord as he commented, "Sounds like someone I know."

  
His lord also gave a wry smile as he commented, "Yes, I suppose it does."

  
They turned to stare at Hogsmeade silently for a few minutes before his lord ordered with one word, "Theonel."

  
Without another word, Theonel took out his wand and aimed it to his right as he chanted the Homorphus charm.

  
His spell hit a nearby beetle and it began to fall to the ground, slowly morphing into the form of a woman. The woman fell to the ground with a loud thud and Theonel immediately bound her with a nonverbal binding spell. Marvolo watched silently as the woman in front of them began shivering uncontrollably out of shock and fear. He tilted his head slightly as he greeted pleasantly, "Hello, Miss Skeeter."

  
"H-hello, Mister Slytherin." Rita forced out a frightened whisper, whimpering when she felt the binds around her tighten.

  
"As I'm sure you have your... how do they call it?" Marvolo pondered for a second before a condescending smirk appeared on his face as he finally remembered, "Ah, yes, your scoop. I would like to propose a business... arrangement. One you might find to your advantage."

  
Rita's lips curved into a wobbly smirk as she said, "I-I'm listening..."

  
"An exclusive coverage over the developing relationship of the Boy-Who-Lived and the Dark Lord's son." Rita's eyes widened at the implication of Marvolo's words while Marvolo simply continued to smirk at her, "Quite a fantastic deal, do you not agree, Miss Skeeter? The story of the year, some might say."

  
Rita's eyes shone with predatory gleam and she forced her body to sit, the pain of the bind seemingly non-existent at the prospect of such a big story, "What's the catch?"

  
"Oh, nothing much." Marvolo shrugged as he casually said, "Simply that Theonel Nott or any other associate of mine will edit your writings before you send them to your editor."

  
Marvolo took a few steps towards Rita and looked down at her as he said pleasantly, "I simply cannot, in my honest conscience, let you vilify my dear Harry any longer. Do you understand, Miss Skeeter?"

  
Rita shivered as she heard the hidden warning in his words and she nodded, gulping before answering verbally, "Of course. Harry is such a sweet boy and very intelligent-"

  
"Enough, Miss Skeeter." Marvolo ordered in a bored drawl before narrowing his eyes as he hissed, "Do understand that you are easily replaceable."

  
"Yes! I understand, my lord!" Rita replied immediately, bowing so lowly her forehead was touching the muddy ground.

  
Marvolo looked at her with disgust but did not say anything to her. Instead, he turned his head to nod at Theonel before saying, "Take care of the rest, Theonel."

  
Theonel bowed as he replied, "As you command."

  
With that said, Marvolo covered himself with Harry's Invisibility Cloak and walked away. His instructions were already written on the parchment he had given Theonel earlier.

  
His steps were brisk and silent. He could feel his magic slowly being released from the confines of his magical core the nearer he becomes to Harry. The sooner he reached the young wizard, the better.

  
This entire act made him want to take Harry away right now, hide him in Riddle manor and keep him far away from the Light and Magical Britain itself.

  
But the risk was too great.

  
While the bind had restored him to his former glory, he was still too weak. He did not have enough force to protect Harry and take down both the Ministry of Magic and Albus Dumbledore at the same time. Every letter he sent to the goblins inquiring about his financial and magical properties as the new Slytherin lord had been denied. As long as he has not yet taken the ring of the Slytherin head, the goblins were unable to send any information pertaining to the Slytherin line. Without any real evidence that the Slytherin line did possess loyalty oaths from other families, he didn’t want to risk it.

  
This... play was the safest way to protect Harry and give them more time to plan. Using the Daily Prophet, especially the talented Rita Skeeter, to weave the lies of the Boy-Who-Lived and the son of the Dark Lord would keep most people from realizing that the Dark Lord was back. Pretending to be the son of the Dark Lord would place doubt in the darkening of the mark as it could easily be misunderstood as the harkening of the return of the son instead. It was normal for children to have similar cores with their parents. That was the main reason why Life Debts would pass from parents to children in the first place.

  
It might require more deceit and time but they had time.

  
Tom Riddle used up all his time.

  
Voldemort never had the time.

  
But Marvolo Slytherin had all the time in the world.

  
For both the Magical World and for Harry Potter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow... this turned out a bit angst-y than I expected.
> 
> I hope it wasn't too fast.
> 
> Weeeeelllllll... Marvolo Slytherin and Harry Potter's 'love story' is meant to be fast-paced though...
> 
> Meh. Just tell me what you guys think XD


	14. The Forgotten and The Determined

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry remembers something important and they get sorta ambushed by Three Gryffindors

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> By the way, I posted an oneshot that is not part of CaBR because… the plot stabbed me on the back while I was ill last week. So check it out if you want, it's called "The Dysfunctional Riddle Family" XD
> 
> Warning:  
> 1 unbeta'ed as usual  
> 2 Voldemort is back to being called Voldemort in the narration  
> 3 Messing up canon~  
> 4 Lack of Harry and Voldemort interaction (I promise next chapter has some)  
> 5 Slight Ron bashing (sorry, Ron TTATT)

Harry didn't get into any trouble when he had run away from Marvolo. He tried to keep his thoughts empty until he was far away from Marvolo _Voldemort_ ~~Tom~~ **whatever**.

  
When he had felt his magic fully contained, he began to think about his past actions as he waited for Theodore to come pick him up. They had agreed to meet up by the gates of Hogsmeade and Harry was fine standing in the cold. He didn’t bother casting any warming charms around him. The cold helped him think.

  
His first thought was that he wanted to hit his head... preferably on a hard surface... repeatedly.

  
He was becoming too attached to Voldemort.

  
He had only start to know the man just a week ago, for Merlin's sake!

  
That... wasn't exactly true though...

  
He had met Voldemort back in his first year. Yes, their first meeting had not been the best way to meet but Voldemort had remained truthful the entire time. He had shown he wasn't above manipulating people and had no qualms showing it. His words were littered with half-truths and easily misunderstood words but he did not utter one single blatant lie.

  
Voldemort had been refreshing to Harry who had spent his entire first year living a lie, pretending to be someone he wasn't.

 

He was the first person to shout out “He's lying!” to Harry.

 

No one ever realized Harry had been acting before him...

  
Then there was Tom.

  
He might have only had the diary for a few months but those few months were already the best months Harry had his entire life.

  
It felt so good to simply talk to someone without pretending to be the Golden Boy. He still kept most of his mask, true, but he had broken down some of the walls when he talked to Tom.

  
Tom was different. Tom was his secret, his...

  
... confidant?

  
... friend?

  
Harry wasn't even sure anymore.

  
If he had been normal, perhaps he would have fallen in love with Tom. It seemed like the cliché thing to happen. Tom had been blatant over his obsession over Harry during the last few weeks they've been together (oh, didn't that just sound weird when worded like that?).

  
Harry had felt amusement over Tom's desire of an 'eternity' but he had also felt annoyed, frustrated on how stubborn the stupid diary had been on how it was possible to achieve an eternity of them together.

  
That had been the main reason why he grew stupid and baited Tom back in the Chambers.

  
He simply wanted to see Tom lose all that composure. See him frustrated and angry just like how Harry had felt over his words.

  
It had escalated back then and he had to choose between Tom and his survival. Choose between the promise of eternity and his life.

  
He never regretted his choice.

  
Tom had been too foolish, too idealistic. It almost seemed strange that he was actually Voldemort when he had been ruled by his emotions, by his anger.

  
Oh, Voldemort was ruled by his emotions at times. He hadn't been lying when he told Voldemort that between the two of them, Harry was the more inhumane one. It was human to be ruled by emotions. It was human to lose oneself to the flow.

  
And that was why Harry was inhumane. He rarely got ruled by his emotions. Being ruled by his emotions lost him Tom. He rarely lost himself to the flow. It was because he went along the flow that he missed his chance to talk to Tom.

  
He would usually remember Tom whenever he felt like he was getting carried away. Tom was his greatest mistake after all.

  
That's why Harry was frustrated at himself right now. Even if it was meant to be an act, he still lost himself at times when he had been talking to Marvolo _Voldemort_ ** ~~Tom~~** back in Hogsmeade. He was making the same mistakes he had made with Tom.

  
And this time, eternity seemed set on stone.

  
Harry wanted to laugh, wanted to scream, and wanted to cast Crucio on the first person he sees...

  
Tom had been a fool. He had been an idealistic fool.

  
Voldemort was still Tom Riddle. Even with all those experiences, even with all that power, in the end, he was still Tom.

  
He didn't feel the same as Tom did for Harry but he still held that disturbing kindness that seemed so out of place in his Dark Lord visage. It was the kindness Tom Riddle had, Harry supposed.

  
It was the same kindness that twisted into promises of eternity by that damn diary.

  
It was the same kindness that seemed to be twisting Voldemort into becoming fond of Harry.

  
Harry should find this a good thing. Thinking about this by weighing the pros and cons, this was a good result. A kind and, dare he say it, loving husband was better than a husband who tolerated him. This had been the best case end result Harry had for his plan of making someone love him and take him away from the Dursleys before he learned he was a wizard.

  
But Tom's feelings had been frustrating.

  
It made Harry feel guilty.

  
He knew he couldn't love. He didn't know how to love.

  
Knowing he could never return Tom's obsession made Harry feel guilty, feel disgusted over his inability to love someone who wanted to spend eternity with him.

  
Fondness and adoration were different from love. Harry had never been consumed by the disturbing desire to simply be there for anyone, to plan his entire life with someone, or to sacrifice everything for that one person.

  
He had felt guilty it couldn't be Tom. A part of him wanted it to be Tom.

  
Sometimes, Harry would think he wouldn't have mind pretending that he did love Tom as deeply as the obsession the diary had held for him. Perhaps if he pretended hard enough, he would forget it was a lie and would truly believe that he did love Tom.

  
And here he was... repeating the same dance with Voldemort.

  
He wasn't sure if Voldemort realized it himself but he was becoming kinder… nicer. His blatant disregard for Harry's personal space was becoming increasingly obvious. Harry had taken them all in stride. He had only seen the pros in Voldemort's gradual change of behaviour.

  
It was when he was talking to Marvolo, when Voldemort had been telling about himself by carefully wording his responses, did Harry understood the greatest con in this new behaviour.

  
Voldemort could easily give Harry the cruellest torture of all.

  
Harry would know. Tom had been very proficient in using it on Harry.

 

Harry stared at the milk chocolate rose in this hand. He began rolling it slowly, debating whether to throw it or to eat it. It would be a problem if he did throw it and people found out. He knew Voldemort was planning on making his and Marvolo Slytherin's relationship public as soon as possible. That was why they acted like they didn’t know each other. The more people who can collaborate that they saw the two of them together in their act, the better it would be. Their conversations would be published by Rita Skeeter of all people, much to Harry's annoyance.

 

He had hoped Voldemort would find no use for her so Harry could use her for his... experiments.

 

He blamed Voldemort for teaching him Crucio. Now, his nonchalant curiosity towards the Dark Arts has turned into a more pressing desire in forms of... experiments.

 

Harry took a deep breath and placed the rose by his lips. It was still covered by a transparent plastic bag which seemed to be charmed with a cooling spell. He let his lips graze over one of the petals while he focused. This was the only time he could think by himself while Voldemort was far away, making their mind link inoperable.

 

How should he proceed?

 

Voldemort's fondness will only grow. That was the logical assumption. Harry had no plans to antagonize him and they were going to have to stay near one another until Yule at the earliest.

 

He was to marry Voldemort as well. An amicable relationship would be best to their situation. Even if they didn't need to be in the same room all the time anymore, they would still have a child together. For their child's sake, they should at least be civil to one another.

 

Unless Harry vilifies Voldemort in their child's eyes and run away.

 

… He could use Sirius and Remus. He could execute the plan he had mused about in the Chambers during his first night with Voldemort. The four of them could try to run away from Britain and Voldemort. Let Voldemort take care of Dumbledore.

 

… Harry could use the Magical Oath Voldemort gave. As long as he does not give his permission, Voldemort could not leave Magical Britain. Harry could, in theory, imprison Voldemort in Magical Britain while he lives his life in some random country far away from Voldemort.

 

But... does he want to?

 

Does he want to leave Voldemort?

 

Harry bit back a painful laugh at the answer he received from his mind.

 

No.

 

He wanted to stay with Voldemort.

 

He wanted to stay with Tom Riddle.

 

This was strange.

 

He was growing attached to the Dark Lord far too fast.

 

He never got attached to anything or anyone this fast before.

 

Not even to Sirius or to Hermione...

 

This was definitely strange.

 

But was it 'bad strange' or 'good strange'?

 

Harry didn't have the time to answer that question when he heard his name being called. Harry turned his head and gave a soft smile as Theodore ran towards him, followed by his father. Harry hid the rose inside the sleeve of his robes and greeted, “Hello, Theo. Did you have fun?”

 

“Yes.” Theodore showed him a bag filled with different kinds of sweets as he explained, “Father bought us lots of sweets. I heard Luna likes Sweet Crystals and our friend enjoys Glacial Snow Flakes so I got them those. I also bought a few Treacle fudge since you like Treacle Tarts, I assume-”

 

“How rude!” Harry interrupted and huffed, “I do not like Treacle Tarts.”

 

Harry grinned as he corrected, “I love them.”

 

Theodore grinned back and bowed as he mockingly said, “My apologies, Little Lord. I stand corrected.”

 

Harry glanced at Theodore's silent father and asked, “So... Theo has told you about me?”

 

Theonel nodded and said in a respectful tone, “Yes. I must apologize for my lack of respect back in the in-”

 

Harry waved his hand in a dismissing manner before he said, “You weren't disrespectful, don't worry. As far as I am concern, I already like you. If I could, I would ask our dear Lord to replace Malfoy with you.”

 

Theonel chuckled softly and shook his head as he replied, “I would very much to ask you don't, Little Lord. Lucius position is very stressful. I'd rather not have it.”

 

Harry's grin grew bigger as he commented, “Smart man.”

 

Harry rolled his hidden chocolate rose on his fingers as he stated, “It might be better if you meet with Tom now. I left him in an open field overlooking Hogsmeade.”

 

Harry turned to point at the road leading to Hogsmeade station as he instructed, “Just follow that road and pass the station. You won't miss the open field.”

 

Theonel bowed slightly at Harry as he said, “Thank you, Little Lord. I shall be on my way.”

 

Harry hummed and grinned at Theonel as he said, “It was nice meeting you, Theonel.”

 

“The pleasure was all mine, Little Lord.” Theonel replied with a small bow before turning to face Theodore. He placed a hand on Theodore's shoulder and squeezed it lightly as he whispered, “Keep yourself and our Little Lord safe, understand?”

 

“Yes, father.” Theodore straighten his back as he proclaimed, “I will bring honour to our family name and to our allegiance.”

 

Theonel smiled softly and whispered, “I know you will.”

 

Theonel bowed at Harry once more before walking away. Harry and Theodore watched Theonel walk away, neither saying anything until Theonel was no longer in their sight.

 

Harry continued to stare at the road Theonel had disappeared to as he asked Theodore, “Do you think he is a good person?”

 

Theodore frowned slightly and turned to his head to stare at Harry as he asked, “My father?”

 

Harry chuckled softly and shook his head before clarifying, “No. _Your_ lord.”

 

Theodore's eyes widened and he looked around. There were still a lot of Hogwarts students loitering but no one was close enough to hear the two of them yet Theodore still took out his wand and chanted the strongest privacy spell he knew. After casting the spell, Theodore mulled over his words for a few seconds before answering, “I do not know...”

 

Harry finally turned to look at Theodore and he raised an eyebrow. Theodore shifted his weight to his other leg, leaning closer towards Harry as he whispered, “I have heard stories about him from my father and some of them were... strange. At times, my father spoke about him like he was the greatest wizard. Other times, my father would speak like he was telling me a scary story.”

 

“We remain faithful, of course.” Theodore hurriedly added before looking down at the snowy ground, “But... well... I suppose you can say we still fear him. Father said he wasn't always like that, that there was a time he had been more than the Dark Lord everyone seems to know about. Now... we don't know...”

 

“Everyone has a breaking point.” Harry said softly, a bitter smile appearing on his face, “He simply broke while you and everyone else broke alongside him. It's an endless cycle. We break people just as people break us.”

 

“What do you mean?” Theodore turned his head to stare at Harry once more.

 

Harry bit the inside of his mouth when he saw Theodore's innocent curiosity.

 

Theodore may be kind and may have accepted Harry for what he is but he wasn't broken. He wasn't like Harry.

 

He wasn't like Voldemort.

 

Theodore's brows furrowed when Harry let out a chuckle.

 

Harry crossed his arms and looked away from Theodore.

 

Ah.

 

It all seemed clear now.

 

Harry was broken.

 

Voldemort was broken.

 

The two of them were both broken.

 

Harry broke when he was a child and continued to break even now.

 

Voldemort was cracked when he was a child but he broke when he was an adult.

 

That's why Voldemort was more human than Harry.

 

Harry wasn't jealous of him.

 

It was that humanity which remained even after Voldemort broke that interested Harry.

 

“I see.” Harry murmured, a broken smile appearing on his face.

 

He wasn't going to leave Voldemort.

 

Not yet.

 

He would stay by that man's side.

 

Let Voldemort grow fonder of him.

 

Let Voldemort delude himself into thinking he was falling in love with Harry.

 

Harry wouldn't lie to him. He wouldn't pretend to be anything but the broken child that he was. He wouldn’t pretend to fall in love with him.

 

Harry would stay with Voldemort and watch him, observe him.

 

Harry has never been ambitious. Ambition always dragged hope with it. Hope would ultimately lead to despair. It was better to not have ambition. It was better to not have hope.

 

But Voldemort had ambitions. He wanted to rule the world. He wanted so many things.

 

Harry wanted to see, see if the Dark Lord Voldemort ( _the broken man Tom Riddle_ ) can actually, against all odds, achieve his ambitions.

 

So he will stay, stay by Voldemort's side. Be his consort and help him if needed.

 

But if Voldemort does fall...

 

… well...

 

Harry already let go of his attachments to the diary of the man.

 

How hard could it be to let go of his growing attachment to the man himself?

 

Harry bit back a moan as he felt his magic return to him, indicating Voldemort was nearing them already. Harry's lips curved into a smile and he leaned forward, whispering to Theodore's ear, “Keep this a secret from my dear fiancé, okay?”

 

Harry stepped back and whispered conspiratorially, “You know he can be a bit... impulsive.”

 

Theodore's face turned a shade paler which only made Harry grin and wink at him before taking out the chocolate rose from the sleeve of his robes. He untied the ribbon keeping the plastic on and grinned. He took a step forward Theodore and tied the pink ribbon on his hair, just below his right ear. Theodore's didn't move his head and moved his eyes to stare at the pink ribbon.

 

Harry felt a hand on his back, a silent announcement that Voldemort was right behind him, hidden in his Invisibility Cloak. Harry leaned closer, grinning as he asked his invisible fiancé while staring at Theodore, “What do you think? I think I'll make all my knights wear pink ribbons on their hair. Beats marking them with a snake tattoo, you know?”   

 

Voldemort smacked his back lightly to show his annoyance, making Harry grin. Harry couldn’t help but release a pleasant shiver as Voldemort chanted a nonverbal and wandless warming charm around them. He unwrapped the chocolate rose and turned around, facing Voldemort as he placed one of the petals by his bottom lip. Harry's lips curved into a playful grin as he said, “Well then. Time to go back to my cage, don't you agree?”

 

Harry licked the chocolaty goodness as he stared where Voldemort was most probably standing.

 

The surprise he felt through their link brought a wicked grin on his face. He started nibbling on the chocolate rose in his hand as he walked back to the castle, followed closely by Theodore and Voldemort. Harry made sure to clear his mind of all his previous thoughts, focusing his mind in imagining Theodore with different ribbons tied to his hair.

 

He felt Voldemort's annoyance at that but kept on imagining it.

 

If Theodore was going to be his knight, he'll make sure he'll have a pretty knight.

 

He was so not going to make the same mistake as Mister Dark Lord did over his lackeys' dreadful black robes and weird masks.

 

He didn't need their mental link to feel Voldemort glaring at him.

 

When they reached the gates of Hogwarts, Harry blinked and tilted his head slightly. Just a few feet from the gates, Luna was standing in warm black robes to counter the harsh winds. On her shoulder was a brown owl of some kind, staring unblinking at them. Luna waved at them and Harry started walking faster.

 

When he finally reached Luna, he noticed the young girl's cheeks and nose were red while her lips were paler than usual. Harry frowned and took off his robes as he asked, “How long have you been waiting for us?”

 

“Not too long, My Lord.” Luna replied dreamily, tilting her head as she suggested, “I think a green ribbon would suit us more than pink. The same hue as your killing eyes will be more symbolic than a rose.”

 

A small smile appeared on Harry's face at Luna's suggestion. The owl flew off Luna's shoulders as Harry wrapped his robes around the smaller girl. Luna shivered and clung onto the robes, smiling as she said softly, “Thank you, My Lord.”

 

The owl began circling above them while Theodore rushed towards the two of them, taking off his own robes as he shouted, “Little Lord! You'll catch a cold!”

 

Harry slightly grimaced when he felt Theodore place his robes around his shoulders, reminding him that he was far too small compared to his own year mate. He didn’t even bother to tell them that Voldemort’s warming charm was still enveloped around him and just kept quiet. Luna buttoned Theodore's robes on her Lord while Theodore fussed, “Please take better care of yourself, Little Lord! You're already far too skinny and your complexion is quite pale to be normal! If you catch a cold-”

 

“So... what's the deal with the owl?” Harry interrupted Theodore's mother hen mode to stare at the owl still circling around them.

 

“Oh, yes.” Luna raised her arm and the owl flapped towards her, gently resting on her offered arm. Luna stroked the owl, making it preen under her soft caress, as she explained, “This precious little darling came looking for you, My Lord. I saw him while I was in the Owlery to receive my father's package.”

 

She maneuvered her body so the owl could be in front of Harry. The owl jutted out one of his legs and Harry finally noticed the rolled parchment tied to his leg. Harry untied the parchment and unrolled it. Theodore opened his mouth to warn Harry about the possibility that the letter might be cursed but stopped when Luna smiled sweetly at him and softly explained, “It’s alright. There are no spells on the letter other than a spell that prevents everyone but our Lord in reading it.”

 

Theodore’s lips curved into a slight frown but relented, “If Lady Lovegood says so…”

 

“Oh.” Harry's eyes widened as he skimmed the letter addressed to him, making both of his subordinates turn to look at him, “Oh dear. I honestly forgot about him. Well, forgot to write to him anyway…”

 

“Forgot about who, Little Lord?” Theodore asked but did not try peek, unlike a certain Gryffindor Harry knew all to well.

 

“My dear adorable godfather.” Harry gave a fond smile as he mused, “Dear old Padfoot must be worried.”

 

Harry turned towards Theodore and asked, “Theo, can you be a dear and ask Zabini and Daphne where we will be having our after dinner tea later then come get me in Barty's quarters after dinner? I'm afraid I must write a reply as soon as I can.”

 

“Of course, Little Lord.” Theodore bowed lightly as he said, “I shall as soon as I can.”

 

Harry hummed and turned to look at the owl, remembering Sirius' letter. He raised an eyebrow and asked, “You're not going to bite me, right?”

 

As if to answer his question, Harry immediately backed away when the owl tried to peck him, bumping onto Voldemort who grabbed him by the waist to stop him from losing his balance. Harry glared at the owl and hissed, “I'll send my reply to a cuter more adorable owl.”

 

Harry waved his hand in a dismissing manner as he hissed, “Shoo!”

 

The owl looked like he was glaring at Harry as it flew off Luna's arm with what Harry assumed was the owl equivalent to a huff. Luna waved goodbye to the owl while Harry began walking back to the castle. Luna and Theodore followed him inside with Luna walking on his right while Theodore walked on his left. As they walked the large corridor, Harry asked Luna without turning his head, “Why would you receive your package in the Owlery? Don't owls normally just drop the packages in the Great Halls?”

 

Luna giggled softly before reminding Harry, “We haven't been eating in the Great Halls for weeks now, My Lord. Our poor family owl most probably couldn't find me so the Nargles whispered that she was waiting for me in the Owlery.”

 

Harry sheepishly smiled as he commented, “Oh, right. I honestly forgot about that.”

 

Luna smiled sweetly as she proclaimed, “It’s quite alright. I love having dinners with the four of us.”

 

“There have been rumours about where you two run off during meal times. Some say you mail order food. Others think you sneak out to Hogsmeade. There's even a rumour going on that you already know how to apparate and use that to eat anywhere you want.” Theodore informed them, being the only one who still went to the Great Halls to eat. It wasn't like he wanted to but it was Slytherin tradition to always appear in the Great Halls for meals. From how Theodore explained it, Harry concluded that Slytherin valued their image of a united house. All conflicts within housemates were kept inside the dormitories.

 

Theodore had been a fountain of information about that one.

 

Apparently, the Slytherin house was divided by years. Each year had an appointed leader who coordinates with the other leaders. A Seventh Year is the de facto leader of the entire house, most often the Seventh Year Prefect or the Head Boy or Girl if they were a Slytherin. There were, of course, exceptions to the rule.

 

Theodore's eyes shifting towards Voldemort when he said that was already an indication on who he was talking about.

 

Voldemort was more than happy to send a short memory of the entire Slytherin house bowing down before what Harry could only assume to be either a thirteen or fourteen years old Tom Riddle.

 

… smug arrogant prat...

 

The most interesting titbit Theodore had told him was about the current hierarchy of their Slytherin year mates.

 

While Malfoy was the de facto leader of their year, there seemed to be some kind of power see-saw happening this year.

 

The opposition?

 

Daphne Greengrass...

 

Harry had been surprised at that. He had assumed it was Blaise Zabini who would be Malfoy's opposition. He was one of the few Slytherins in his year that stood out both in theoretical and practical application of magic. Sure, Malfoy was louder but, when one looked at the points distributions, Zabini's name was actually closer to Hermione than Malfoy.

 

But Harry supposed there was a reason why Daphne could oppose Malfoy. According to Voldemort and Theodore, the Greengrass was one of the more prominent Dark Families. While they were not as influential or as rich as the Malfoys, they were still a respected and well known family. According to Theodore, it seemed like Daphne was supported by Zabini (no surprise there), Millicent Bullstrode (all Harry remembered is that she looked very similar to the Hag illustrated in Lockhart's book), Tracey Davis (yeeaaahh, nope, Harry can't remember her) and some other girl whose name now evaded Harry's memory. On the other hand, Malfoy had the support of Pansy Parkinson and his two minions.

 

It should have been easy for Daphne to overthrow Malfoy in the internal hierarchy but, according to Theodore, she couldn't because of the influence of the Malfoy family.

 

But if she had Theodore's support...

 

It seemed so blatant now why Daphne was keen on talking to him.

 

Theodore's support was neither to Draco Malfoy or Daphne Greengrass. It now belonged to Harry Potter.

 

Does that make him an honorary Slytherin?

 

When Voldemort heard that, Harry could feel the gears of Voldemort's cunning mind moving but the older wizard was not forthcoming about his thoughts so Harry assumed it was still being processed and revised. For now, Harry wouldn't mind having tea with Daphne and Zabini. It would be nice to have a pleasant conversation with the one opposing Malfoy from the inside.

 

And free Treacle tarts Voldemort couldn't forbid...

 

That was the best part.

 

Harry's musing came to a halt when he felt Luna tug the sleeve of Theodore's robes. He blinked and turned his head to stare at the younger Ravenclaw who seemed to be looking behind him. Harry turned around and a wry smile appeared on his face.

 

Three Gryffindors were following them, the overhead candles creating a fiery shine to the hair of the two of them. It was the non-red haired one who approached them.

 

“Hermione...” Harry greeted with a slight nod.

 

Hermione's eyes seemed blinked rapidly for a moment and her lips trembled before she stammered, “Harry, I...”

 

Hermione's words were cut off by Ron clearing his throat.

 

… Loudly...

 

Theodore narrowed his eyes at Ron and hissed, “If you have something to say, Weasley, then say it yourself. Don't order Granger to do it for you like a spoiled little brat.”

 

Ron stared at Harry with an expression Harry couldn’t exactly understand. It was like Ron was waiting for Harry to defend him or something equally Gryffindor.

 

Harry honestly cannot understand why Ron would look at him like that.

 

“I have nothing to say to slimy snakes!”  Ron finally growled after a few seconds, glaring at Theodore.

 

Theodore took a step forward but stopped when he felt Harry grab his forearm and pull him lightly. Theodore kept his glare at Ron but stepped back, instinctively standing so near to Harry their shoulders were touching. Luna kept her hand on Harry's sleeve but her eyes were to the other red head that stood farthest from Harry.

 

“Any reason why you would be following us?” Harry asked, keeping his voice calm and pleasant.

 

Which seemed to only distress Hermione if the slight trembling of her shoulders were any indication.

 

How strange...

 

Hermione bit her bottom lip and turned to look at Ron who pursed his lips and nudged his head towards Harry's direction. Hermione turned back around and her eyes rose to stare at the ceiling as she recited, “Ronald would like me to tell you that Seamus told him that Dean was told by Parvati that Hagrid was looking for you.”

 

…

 

…

 

Oh, now that's just plain childish!

 

Harry blinked owlishly at Hermione for a couple of seconds while Theodore turned his head to stare at Hermione with an expression that can only mean either 'did you seriously just say that?' or 'are you so foolish to let Weasley rope you into saying that?'...

 

Harry was betting on the latter interpretation.

 

“I'm sorry...” Harry tilted his head as he asked, “What?”

 

“Um...” Hermione actually walked back towards Ron who began whispering to her. Hermione groaned and walked towards Harry and recited, “Dean was told...”

 

Hermione sighed tiredly and begged, “Please don't make me repeat it. Hagrid's looking for you.”

 

Harry raised an eyebrow as he commented, “I'm more surprised that you'll even take the time to recite such a confusing and childish sentence, Hermione.”

 

Ron glared at him while Hermione gave him a wobbly small smile. Harry nodded and smiled at Hermione, “Thank you for indulging Ron, Hermione. I will try to make time to see him tonight.”

 

“Why not go already?!” Ron shouted from where he was standing. He glared at Theodore as he growled, “Hagrid's our friend. He deserves your time more than a slimy snake like Nott.”

 

Theodore glared at him but did not move from his spot, knowing Harry would not be pleased. Harry sighed and rubbed his forehead, his fingers grazing over his scar, as he felt Voldemort's growing irritation for the red head boy. Harry stared at Ron with a displeased expression as he stated in a calm modulated tone, “How I spend my day is none of your concern, Ronald. It has never been your concern and it sure as hell not going to be your concern no matter what. Calling Theo a slimy snake is rich coming from you...”

 

“Mate.” Harry hissed as he glared at Ron, finding satisfaction in seeing the three Gryffindors flinch. Harry crossed his arms and sneered, “There's a muggle saying that I think would suit you quite well, my own personal Brute. When you're pointing a finger to someone, always remember there are three fingers pointing back at you.”

 

Ron looked confused while Hermione was surprised by those words.

 

Maybe she never expected something a bit profound to come out of Harry Potter's mouth?

 

Pffftt.

 

Harry wrinkled his nose as he hissed, “Now, if you'll excuse me, I have more pressing matters to attend to.”

 

… like keeping an irritated Dark Lord from Crucioing Ron and destroying their cover...

 

Harry didn't bother to wait for their reply and turned around, walking briskly away from them. Theodore followed him immediately while Luna remained, staring at the look of utter despair on Hermione's face. Luna gently grabbed the trembling hand of the older Gryffindor and squeezed it gently. Hermione stared at Luna and blinked rapidly, trying to force the tears threatening to fall from her eyes to disappear.

 

“He didn't mean you.” Luna whispered softly and gave Hermione a soft smile, “All you have to do is be the Gryffindor you are and confront him.”

 

“I...” Hermione's lips trembled and tears began to fall from her eyes.

 

Luna's eyes softened when Hermione was pulled away from her by Ginny who was glaring at her. Ginny whispered to Hermione, “Come on, Hermione.”

 

Luna smiled sadly at Ginny as she watched her gently push Hermione to Ron. When both Hermione and Ron began walking away, Luna whispered, “It is not yours to bear, Ginny.”

 

Ginny turned around to frown at her and snapped, “I don't know what you're talking about.”

 

“His love is not yours to bear.” Luna clarified, her eyes softening as she whispered, “You are chained by the obsession he had.”

 

Ginny froze at those words but Luna didn't pay her rigid posture any heed as she continued, “You are drowning in them... Drowning in the delusion that his obsession is yours to cradle, to nurture and to present to Harry Potter.”

 

“You don't understand. You'll never understand.” Ginny hissed, “I have to. I need to. Tom needs me-”

 

Luna's smile disappeared as she warned, “If you continue down this path, you'll break.”

 

Ginny's eyes shone with determination as she hissed, “Then so be it. I won't fail Harry.”

 

Luna's heart ached when she heard Ginny's declaration, “I won't fail Tom.”

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Cruellest torture of all can be found in Musing of a Hocrux Diary...
> 
> The unnamed Slytherin girl in Harry's year is canon. There is one more Slytherin girl who has never been named XD
> 
> The Slytherin hierarchy is pure fanon.
> 
> “Ronald would like me to tell you that Seamus told him that Dean was told by Parvati that Hagrid was looking for you.” is a direct quote from Harry Potter and The Goblet of Fire movie.
> 
> “When you're pointing a finger to someone, always remember there are three fingers pointing back at you.” - I tried looking for the origin of this saying but I couldn't find it. Eeerr... Hopefully, it didn't mess up the timeline? I personally heard it first from my Religion teacher back in High School so yeeaaahhhh...


	15. True Loyalty, Tea and Treacle Tarts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry realizes something. There’s tea and Treacle Tarts as well, which is nice.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Before anything else. Just a few announcements:  
> \- Dysfunctional Riddle Family is now multi-chapter'ed. The 2nd chapter (Tom) has already been uploaded.  
> \- I also uploaded two oneshots from two different non-CaBR universe: Congratulatory Pancake (non-magical Tomarry oneshot in Ginny's POV) and Black Family Reunion (magical Tomarry oneshot in Regulus' POV) so check them out if you guys want.   
> ... This is what happens when I don't have internet connection for the weekends. XD
> 
> Warning:  
> 1 unbeta'ed as usual  
> 2 a bit Sirius (maybe more than a bit Sirius)  
> 3 Two short-ish chapters made into one long chapter

===== True Loyalty =====

 

Harry managed to get to Barty’s quarters without any other incidents. Theodore had stayed by the door, bowing at both him and Voldemort as he announced he would be returning to the Slytherin common rooms to wait for Daphne and Zabini. Harry had simply nodded while Voldemort waved a dismissing hand towards him. Harry sat on the chair Barty would use when he was grading the students’ assignments and grabbed a blank parchment without bothering to ask permission from Barty. It was only when he had dipped the quill he had ‘borrowed’ into the ink bottle next to the parchment did it finally dawned to his mind a very unpleasant revelation he wished he never realized.

 

“Should I tell Sirius about you?” Harry asked, staring at the blank parchment.

 

Voldemort, who had been conversing with Barty, stopped and turned to face Harry as he asked back, “About me or about Marvolo Slytherin?”

 

Harry raised his head and replied unsurely, “Both?”

 

“Is it necessary?” Voldemort pressed on.

 

Harry sighed and returned to staring at the blank parchment as he replied, “I don’t know…”

 

Voldemort walked towards him and placed a hand on the back of the chair as he leaned towards Harry, bending slightly as he reminded him, “They will have to know the truth, in the end. If you wish to continue to have them by your side, they must know who you really are.”

 

“I know that.” Harry tiredly admitted, leaning back to his chair and sighing, “I know they are part of our negotiations. But…”

 

Voldemort turned his head to stare at the mulling boy as he observed, “You’re having doubts.”

 

“I…” Harry closed his mouth and stared at the parchment for a moment. He raised his head and ordered Barty, “Barty, would you be a dear and check up on Luna for me? She should have been here by now already.”

 

Barty was surprised by the sudden order and turned to look at his master. Voldemort nodded slightly and Barty turned to stare at Harry once more. He bowed and replied, “As you wish, Little Lord.”

 

Barty walked out of the room slowly, Moody’s wooden leg making him slower than usual. Once he was out of the room, Voldemort waved his hand towards the chair Harry was sitting on, making it turn around towards Voldemort using a wandless and nonverbal spell. Voldemort straightened his back as he ordered, “Talk.”

 

Harry raised his head to stare at Voldemort, relaxing on his chair as he admitted, “I asked for their… ‘pardon’ because I adore them but I just realized that…”

 

Harry bit his bottom lip, grinding his upper teeth against his bottom lip. Voldemort placed his hand on Harry’s chin, the end of his thumb pressing against Harry’s bottom lip. Voldemort pulled Harry’s bottom lip down as he ordered, “Stop that.”

 

Harry sighed once more and rubbed his forehead, his fingers grazing his scar lightly as he looked down at the floor, “I think they may be too much of an unknown variable right now. I mean… you did kill their closest friends.”

 

“And this is only dawning onto you now?” Voldemort asked, raising an eyebrow as he continued to stare down at the younger man sitting in front of him.

 

Harry’s lips curved into a slight pout as he admitted, “I know, I know. It seemed like a huge oversight on my part but that time, when I said that their loyalty is to me, I really did believe it is…”

 

Voldemort noticed the grimace that paved its way towards Harry’s face as he corrected, “… was…”

 

Voldemort pushed Harry by the chin, forcing the boy to raise his head once more, with a force that was definitely forceful if it was a normal person but seemingly gentle as far as Harry was concern. Voldemort stared at him as he asked (demanded), “And what has changed your mind?”

 

“You.”

 

There was no hesitation in Harry’s voice. He stared at Voldemort with clear green eyes, his tone even and calm yet held the same tired tone he had been using for the entirety of their conversation, “Or I suppose it would be more accurate to say: your loyal dog, Theonel Nott, has changed my mind.”

 

“Theonel?” There was a hint of surprise in Voldemort’s tone. Harry had simply assumed that he had been surprised by the idea that a single meeting with him could change his mind.

 

Unlike Voldemort who had full knowledge of Harry’s mind, Harry did not have access to the Dark Lord’s mind and, thus, did not hear the real reason for Voldemort’s surprise.

 

Voldemort had been surprised because the first thought that came into his mind was to punish Theonel for making Harry doubt himself, for making the young boy in front of him look so tired and resigned to whatever fate he seemed to have conjured up after meeting Theonel. Voldemort knew his initial reaction was strange yet he did not show it to Harry. This was something he should think about by himself. There was no need to let Harry knew about this… strange feeling.

 

Harry simply sighed once more and grabbed the wrist of the hand currently holding him by the chin. He did not make any attempts to pull it away, not yet anyway, and simply explained, “I saw how… loyal he was to you, even after these years, even when you were, as you said, out of your mind and mad with rage and carnage. He still looked at you like you were the second coming of Merlin himself or the messiah that this boring annoying world needs. Barty does the same thing.”

 

Harry chuckled as he corrected, “Barty is actually worse. He looks at you like the world revolves around you and that it is his destiny, his… ‘privilege’ to be your follower, to cater to your every order and desire.”

 

Harry’s eyes softened and glistened slightly as he continued, “Then I remember how my godfather looks at me. How Remus looks at me. They look at me with such sadness in their eyes. They look at me and they don’t _see_ me.”

 

Voldemort didn’t know what came over him. His body moved by its own when it suddenly knelt in front of Harry. His hands moved without his consent when they cupped Harry’s cheeks, his thumbs caressing Harry’s soft skin. Harry grabbed Voldemort’s other wrist as he whispered, “They look at me and they see their dead friends. They don’t know the real me and they delude themselves into thinking they love me when all they are doing is atoning for the sins they think they have committed.”

 

“Then let them continue to delude themselves.” Voldemort suggested, “You have already said these things before. This is what you were counting on when you asked for their pardon to me.”

 

“Because that’s what I thought loyalty looked like!” Harry snapped, gripping Voldemort tightly, “I thought that would be enough!”

 

Harry finally pushed Voldemort’s hands away and got up, making the chair creak against the wood as it skidded away from Harry. Harry used the small space between the chair and Voldemort to walk away from the Dark Lord. He ran his hands through his hair in frustrations as he explained, “I never met anyone like Barty or Theonel before all of these. The only loyalty I saw had been Hagrid and the rest of the professors towards Dumbledore but they weren’t that different from Sirius and Remus’ loyalty towards me! Snape seems like he’s only loyal to himself. The only thing Malfoy ever did that seemed to be some form of loyalty towards you was giving Tom to Ginny and that seemed to be more like him protecting his own hide than wanting to remind the world that you still exist.”

 

Harry stopped right next to the only window in the room, charmed to be a one-way mirror. He turned to face Voldemort with crossed arms as he sarcastically added, “And the Death Eaters who thought it would be a good idea to wreak havoc during the Quidditch World Cup look more like adrenaline junkies and sadistic bullies than your loyal supporters.” 

 

Harry turned around to stare at the window as he finished his rant, “Then Barty and Theonel showed me how true loyalty looked like.”

 

Voldemort walked towards Harry and stopped right next to him. He stared at the window as well, watching various students laze around the ground level of Hogwarts without a care in the world. He placed his hand on Harry’s shoulder, pulling the younger man closer to him until Harry’s shoulder bumped against his rib cage. Voldemort continued to stare at the window as he suggested, “Then write to them, tell them to meet you.”

 

“Then what?” Harry asked softly, staring at the window as well.

 

“You tell them the truth.” Voldemort replied, finally turning his head to look at Harry.

 

Harry raised his head to look at Voldemort as he asked, “And if they decide their hatred for you is greater than their loyalty to me?”

 

“Then we deal with them.” Voldemort replied in a cold tone that sent shivers down Harry’s spine, “Kill them or obliviate them, you decide their fate.”

 

“Me?” Harry’s brows furrowed. He had been willing to let Voldemort decide what happened to them. He was the dominant one in their relationship. All Harry had was the ability to plead and suggest his case.

 

“They are your dogs, Harry, not mine.” Voldemort lowered his head and hissed, “I put down all the dogs that dare to bite me…”

 

Voldemort’s voice became a gentle whisper as he finished, “… but that does not need to be how you handle your dogs.”

 

“No messing with their memories.” The words were out of Harry’s lips before he knew what he was saying, “Sirius’ mind might actually finally break if you mess with his memories.”

 

Voldemort remained silent and listened to Harry as the boy continued, “We incapacitate them, throw them in a cell or something.”

 

“For how long?”

 

“Until I’m safely away from Dumbledore and the Light. Until the end of this tournament.” Harry’s words were soft as he said, “Then we let them go. My final thank you for their kindness and misguided loyalty…”

 

“And if they stand in our way? If they side with the Light?” Voldemort pressed yet his tone was neither angry nor annoyed. It was calm.

 

It calmed Harry as well.

 

How ironic that the only person to be able to calm Harry down this fast would be the one who had spent most of Harry’s life trying to kill him.

 

“Then you do what you must do to win.” Harry whispered with clear green eyes staring at Voldemort’s, “My mercy is only once. The moment they leave, they are no longer mine to protect.”

 

If Voldemort had anything to say to that, he did not voice it out as the door opened loudly behind them. Voldemort and Harry turned to face the door and saw Barty, who was still polyjuiced to look like Moody, look… quite surprised and a bit fearful.

 

It only took a moment for Harry to realize Barty had probably thought they were having a ‘moment’ which he had interrupted. The fact that Voldemort’s arm was still around him and they had been staring at each other’s eyes probably only helped fuelled that idea in Barty’s mind. Voldemort snorted at that thought and Harry grinned, enjoying the awkward petrified look in Barty’s (Moody’s) face.

 

Feeling a bit kind over his fiancé's follower who had shown a more genuine loyalty to him than his godfather and honourable godfather, Harry asked pleasantly with only a hint of playfulness, “Is something the matter, Barty?”

 

“I-uh… Well… pardon for the intrusion, I didn’t mean- I mean-“

 

“It’s time for dinner, My Lord.” Luna announced as she walked in, patting Barty’s shoulder twice before walking towards the couches. The moment she stepped on the carpet, the couches instantly transfigured to a dining table and chairs. Dobby appeared behind Luna with a pop and he clicked his fingers together, summoning mountains of food and drinks.

 

“Oh, I totally forgot the time.” Harry turned to grin at Voldemort and made sure to rest his head against Voldemort’s upper arm as he asked, “Time sure does fly when we’re having heart to heart conversations, doesn’t it, Love Tart?”

 

Voldemort rolled his eyes at Harry’s obvious attempts to further traumatize Barty and simply led Harry towards the dining table. He pulled the chair and waited for Harry to sit before taking his usual seat at the head of the table with Harry on his left. Luna sat on Harry’s left, filling Harry’s goblet with orange juice while Harry began filling his plate with mashed potato and chicken. Voldemort handed the bowl of sautéed broccoli to Harry as a silent order to eat some vegetables as he ordered, “Stop making a fool of yourself and sit down, Barty.”

 

“Ye-yes, Master.” Barty immediately sat on Voldemort’s right and grabbed the nearest wine bottle. He filled his goblet almost to the brink and drank the entire content in one swing, making Harry and Luna giggle and Voldemort shake his head in resignation.

 

If Barty never learns to get used to Harry rubbing their relationship on his poor follower’s face, then the rest of his followers were screwed.

 

 

===== Tea and Treacle Tarts =====

 

 

After the filling dinner, Harry had been reading one of the pamphlets Luna’s father had given him about wizard pregnancy while Voldemort was looking quite thoughtful over the letter included in the package Mister Lovegood (or was it Lord Lovegood?) had given.

 

Harry was about to ask if Voldemort had gotten a new supporter or lackey when the door opened once more. Theodore bowed at them as he announced, “Good evening, My Lord. I am here to escort Little Lord for tea.”

 

Harry folded the pamphlet close and placed it next to the other pamphlets inside the small box next to him while Voldemort threw the letter to the fireplace. Voldemort turned to face Luna who had been reading Quibbler but raised her head the moment Voldemort turned towards her. He nodded as he said, “I accept your father’s gracious offer.”

 

Luna smiled dreamily as she replied, “Father will be pleased.”

 

Voldemort didn’t have time to reply because Harry had walked towards him, holding out the box Luna’s father delivered for him. Voldemort raised an eyebrow and Harry explained Voldemort’s silent question, “I don’t have a bag and my pockets aren’t bigger on the inside.”

 

Voldemort sighed and took out Harry’s wand from his pocket and nonverbally cast the shrinking spell over the box. The box shrunk until it was as small as Harry’s thumb and Harry placed it between his thumb and forefinger. He raised it over his head and inspected the small box as he asked, “Interesting. Will that spell work on living things such as other witches and wizards?”

 

Voldemort raised an eyebrow at the question and replied as he took out Harry’s invisibility cloak, “I have yet to meet a wizard or a witch that chanted that spell against their opponent.”

 

Harry turned to look at him as he pocketed the box and asked, “Wanna try?”

 

“Add it to the list of spells you wish to practice on Wormtail.” Voldemort said in a dismissing manner, casting his nonverbal disillusions and notice-me-not charms.

 

Harry took another step forward and grabbed both ends of his Invisibility Cloak, adjusting it slightly so that it would be on the middle. Harry raised his head to stare at Voldemort as he reminded the older man, “Try to rein your temper while I socialize with Zabini, okay? I’m sure you wouldn’t want to accidently hex a potential lackey.”

 

“Do not patronize me, my dear.” Voldemort sneered, returning the wand inside Harry’s pocket once he finished all of his usual spells, “I am more than capable to hold my temper.”

 

Harry grinned and playfully pushed, “I don’t know about that. Your control seemed to lessen whenever it concerns me.”

 

Both Barty and Theodore became increasingly awkward at the implication of those words.

 

“Of course I would be.” Voldemort bended slightly, his face just a few inches away from Harry’s as he reminded, “I’ve always been possessive over what I consider to be mine.”

 

Harry mentally wondered when Voldemort had decided that he was his. The slight twitching of Voldemort’s left eye told him that the older wizard didn’t expect to say that out loud. Did that mean it had been a spur of the moment or had he been hiding his possessiveness from the very beginning?

 

Harry supposed it was natural for Voldemort to think of Harry as his.

 

Before this, Harry was Voldemort’s to kill.

 

Now, Harry was Voldemort’s…

 

To what?

 

Sensing Voldemort’s red eyes staring intently at him, Harry halted his thoughts before it dwelled deeper than necessary. He felt Voldemort freeze when a stray thought (a traitorous thought) managed to escape from the deepest part of his mind and into the link they both shared.

 

_**I know you enough to know I want you by my side, to share my future with you.** _

 

Not wanting to let Voldemort say anything about that stray thought, Harry chuckled and pushed Voldemort away gently, walking towards Luna as he commented, “Some would say that’s a sign of an unhealthy relationship.”

 

He offered his hand towards Luna who took it with a soft smile. Harry gently pulled Luna to stand up as Harry added, “Not that I mind, of course.”

 

Harry turned his upper body to face Voldemort as he playfully said, “We’re not exactly like the common folks so what they may consider unhealthy may just be… fun to us.”

 

Voldemort stared at him silently for a few seconds and Harry wondered if he would ask, if he would demand answers. His thought had been precise, had been clear, and he knew Voldemort recognized Tom Riddle’s handwriting. Yet he did not say anything and simply covered his head with the hood. He disappeared in front of their eyes and Harry began walking towards the door with his arm linked with Luna’s, not bothering to hide his surprise in their link. Voldemort will talk when he wanted to. As far as Harry was concern, the longer he didn’t have to talk about Tom, the better. He grinned at Barty as he said, “I’ll see you tomorrow, Barty.”

 

“Have a pleasant evening, Little Lord, My Lord.” Barty bowed towards them. Once he was next to Theodore, Harry linked his other arm around Theodore’s own arm. Theodore blinked for a moment in surprise before grinning proudly. He began guiding Harry and Luna out of the room, Voldemort silently walking behind them.

 

They walked silently with Harry’s face frozen to the perfect angelic smile of Tom Riddle which he used to every student they passed by while Luna hummed the same song that was nostalgic to Harry but he never understood why. He tried remembering where he could have heard the song but only came up empty. At least it was a good distraction from his previous thoughts. When they had reached the moving staircases, Luna unhooked her arm from Harry and curtsied as she said, “Good night, My Lord, Lord Slytherin, Theodore.”

 

“Good night, Luna.” Harry returned with a small smile, patting the top of Luna’s head. Luna took out the quick letter he had written for Sirius from inside the front pocket of his pants, slightly surprising Harry.

 

Luna smiled at him as she said, “I will deliver this to the Owlery on my way, My Lord.”

 

Harry chuckled and patted Luna’s head once more as he said, “Thank you, Luna. I appreciate it.”

 

“I live to serve you, My Lord.” Luna curtsied once more before she skipped to a moving staircase while Theodore continued to lead Harry towards the courtyard. A cold breeze caused Harry to shiver once involuntarily. Fortunately, their evening tea was stationed in the long hallway overlooking the courtyard and not the courtyard itself. A glass table and four white chairs looked so out of place in the empty hallway but both Slytherins looked composed and regal as they sat, whispering to one another. It was Daphne who noticed Harry and Theodore first. Both Slytherins stood and waited for Harry and Theodore to approach them.

 

Harry blinked when he noticed that the air was warmer around the glass table.

 

An area-wide warming charm perhaps?

 

Zabini bowed slightly while Daphne curtsied as they greeted, “A pleasant evening, Sir Potter.”

 

To Theodore, they simply nodded as Zabini said “Nott” while Daphne greeted with a smile “Theodore”.

 

Theodore nodded at them as he greeted back, “A pleasant evening to you as well, Zabini, Daphne.”

 

Harry had read about this kind of greeting yesterday. Purebloods greet each other differently. Those in the same stature would nod at one another while they would bow or curtsied to those they admit to be of higher standing than them.

 

This only made Harry more amused.

 

“Pleasant evenings to both of you.” Harry greeted nonchalantly. He let Theodore grab a seat and pull it. When Theodore bowed slightly, Harry sat on the pulled seat. He stared at the three standing Slytherins for a moment before waving his hand with the palm showing towards the remaining seats in a slightly bored manner as he said, “Please, do sit down.”

 

The three purebloods sat on their respective seats with Theodore on Harry’s left, Daphne on his right and Zabini in front of him.

 

Harry mentally thanked Voldemort for making him read pureblood etiquettes and Wizarding traditions as he kept quiet, watching Daphne silently as she poured tea to the four cups on the table.  He was pretty sure he would have made a fool of himself is he had been left to his own devices.

 

“This tea was brewed with a blend of both non-magical and magical leaves, creating a unique rich taste.” Daphne said with a pleasant smile. The first cup she poured was the cup nearest to her before she poured another cup. She placed the cup in front of Blaise. Blaise nodded at her but did not take the cup.

 

“It will definitely go well with the treacle tarts.” Daphne continued to explain pleasantly as she poured the third cup. She placed it in front of Theodore who nodded at her.

 

As she was pouring the fourth cup, Theodore reached out to grab the small container of sugar cubes. He dropped two cubes on his tea as Daphne placed the final cup in front of Harry, “I do hope it is to your liking, Sir Potter.”

 

The first person to speak was the host of the tea party.

 

No exception.

 

“It does smell quite nice.” Harry replied with a small smile.

 

The next person to speak was always the guest of honour.

 

“Would you like milk or sugar in your tea, Sir Potter?” Daphne asked, smiling at him.

 

Harry nodded and replied, “A cube of sugar and a drizzle of milk if you would be so kind, Daphne.”

 

“It would be my pleasure.” Daphne bowed before grabbing the small milk container. She poured the milk to Harry’s cup in a counter clockwise motion twice before stopping. She placed the container back to its previous location before taking a cube of sugar from the sugar container. She gently dropped the sugar in the cup and grabbed the tea spoon next to the coaster. She mixed Harry’s tea in the same counter clockwise motion until the sugar fully dissolved into the tea before returning the tea spoon next to the coaster.

 

All three waited for Harry to sip his tea first before they all sipped their own tea.

 

Once they had returned the cup back to its coaster, a plate with a slice of treacle tart appeared in front of them. Harry had to stop himself from attacking the sinful goodness in front of him immediately. It would not be the proper etiquette and he was sure Voldemort would give him an earful if he makes an embarrassing mistake now.

 

“This tea is delicious, Daphne.” Harry complemented which only made Daphne smile at him. Harry stared at her as he added, “Better than most tea I’ve had the pleasure in having.”

 

“I am delighted it is to your liking, Sir Potter. My mother had suggested it and she would truly be delighted to learn it is to your satisfaction.” Daphne replied, regally grabbing the teapot. She poured more tea in Harry’s cup as she said pleasantly, “I did hear quite an interesting rumour today.”

 

Aaaannnddd there’s the go signal.

 

“Oh?” Harry nonchalantly said as he nodded his thanks to Daphne after she had finished refilling his cup. He sipped it once more and listened.

 

“Some of our fellow school-mates seemed to have seen you in the presence of an older man today.” Daphne explained, a small smile gracing her face as she asked, “Does that rumour have even a hint of truth to it?”

 

Harry could feel Zabini’s silent stare. Harry grabbed the fork next to the Treacle Tart in front of him, silently debating how he should proceed.

 

Tea between traditional pure-bloods was, according to Voldemort, like this. It wasn’t like the casual conversations his fellow Gryffindors and the Weasley family enjoy. Every word was planned in advanced. It wasn’t just social niceties. It was how they gauged everyone’s side, their worth, and what buttons they can push to have an advantage.

  

Harry sliced a small bite-sized portion as he replied calmly, “It’s true. I had the pleasure of meeting an interesting man today.”

 

“Oh?” Daphne asked, sipping her tea.

 

Harry waited for Zabini to sip his tea as well before he said, “Marvolo Slytherin, Voldemort’s son.”

 

A wicked smirk appeared on his face when he saw Zabini cough and Daphne almost drop her cup. The Greengrass heir stared at him with an open mouth.

 

“You lie.” Zabini hissed, causing Daphne to finally get a hold of herself, “The Dark Lord has no son.”

 

“The identity of Lord Slytherin was a secret only a few people were privy too.” Theodore finally spoke, glaring at Zabini, “Our Lord made sure he was safe from the war. Lord Slytherin has been a ward of House Nott since his birth.”

 

“House Nott?” Zabini glared at Theodore as he sneered, “Are you saying that House Nott was given the privilege to raise the Dark Lord’s son instead of the Malfoys or the Blacks?”

 

“What would you know, Zabini?” Theodore sneered back, “Your House wasn’t on our side. You stayed in the side-line, waiting for one side to destroy the other.”

 

“Marvolo Slytherin.” Daphne repeated the name, stopping whatever Zabini had to say. She sat regally as she stared at Harry, “It is a great name worthy of his stature.”

 

Harry could feel Voldemort staring at Daphne and wondered if it was a good thing the Greengrass heir had gotten the Dark Lord’s attention.

 

“It is not such a stretch to think the Dark Lord had a son. He is… was…”

 

Harry could not help the small smirk that appeared on his face at Daphne’s slip.

 

“… the last descendant of the Slytherin line. It is our responsibility to ensure our line does not die out.” Daphne finished, watching Harry eat the piece of Treacle Tart he had sliced, “House Nott has always been one of the most loyal families and their House do not grace the front page of the Daily Prophet on a daily basis, unlike the Malfoys or the Blacks. They would be the one of the best candidate to nurture and protect the Dark Lord’s son in secret.”

 

Harry raised an eyebrow. That had been the same reasoning Voldemort had prepared in case anyone asked why it was Theonel Nott who raised the Dark Lord’s son and not any of the other more prominent Dark families rumoured to have been loyal to the Dark Lord.

 

“But it is quite strange we have not heard anything about the Dark Lord’s son for a long time.” Daphne innocently commented yet everyone knew that she was trying to poke holes in the story, trying to find the validity of the claim.

 

“He graduated from Durmstrang.” Theodore replied calmly.

 

“Ah.” Daphne nodded in understanding, “Communications between Magical Bulgaria and Magical Britain had been almost non-existent since the fall of the Dark Lord. It is not a stretch to believe that Durmstrang and, by extension, Magical Bulgaria, would not forward the information of the Dark Lord’s son to Magical Britain.”

 

“Not many also know that the Dark Lord was the last of the Slytherin line. Most people don’t even know his real name anymore.” Theodore added, glaring at both pure-bloods. Only the remaining Knights and a few of those in the Inner Circle remember his real name. On the side of the Light, only Dumbledore and a few of his cronies remembered.  Harry was inwardly impressed. Theodore may act kind and sweet to Harry but he was still able to make indirect insults like the rest of the purebloods. Neither the Greengrass family nor the Zabini family would be privy to Voldemort’s real name. While the three pure-bloods were having their silent stare-off, Harry began attacking his Treacle Tart with forced grace that only hid the urge to devour as many of this sinful goodness while he still could.

 

Voldemort was annoyed by that.

 

… which only fuelled Harry’s desire to eat until he couldn’t lift the fork anymore.

 

He was also silently punishing Voldemort for not giving him the two treacle tarts he deserved yesterday.

 

“He had been travelling the world since his graduation.” Theodore concluded before sipping his tea.

 

“And he decided to return to Britain now?” Zabini sceptically asked.

 

“He wanted to meet me.” Harry nonchalantly explained, licking his lips as he placed the fork next to the empty plate. There was the tell-tale sound of a House-elf’s pop and another Treacle Tart appeared on his plate. Harry turned to stare at Zabini as he explained, “He is to be my coach in this Tournament.”

 

“The Dark Lord’s son as the coach of the Boy-who-Lived?” Zabini asked with amusement.

 

“I’m a fourth year forced to participate in a deadly tournament for seventh years. I need all the help I can get.” Harry narrowed his eyes as he calmly stated, “Regardless of their magical inclination or past…”

 

“Dumbledore would not approve.” Daphne stated and both pure-blood heirs stared at him.

 

Harry knew this was what this entire conversation was leading to.

 

His standing in the cold war between Light and Dark…

 

His standing in the Magical World…

 

Aaawwww.

 

Aren’t these baby snakes so adorable, thinking they could play this game?

 

Well, if they wanted to play, Harry would indulge them for a bit.

 

Voldemort sent his approval when he read Harry’s plan.

 

Harry almost grinned mischievously but kept his face void of any expression.

 

“I am not Dumbledore’s pet.” Harry stated coldly, letting a bit of his magic lash out towards the two Slytherins. Both Zabini and Daphne froze at the sudden drop of temperature around them and the magic wrapping around them, leaving them cold and petrified.

 

It was like they were some kind of small animal staring at a dangerous snake ready to gobble them up.

 

“I had assumed the two of you would be more intelligent than the rest. I am not what I appear to be.” Harry’s lips curved into a small smirk as he said, “I am not anyone’s saviour.”

 

“Then who are you, Harry Potter?” Daphne’s voice was slightly pitchy and she could feel her heart beating so fast it felt like it would burst any second.

 

No magic had ever made her feel like this.

 

She both feared yet desired it. She knew Zabini felt the same thing. The way the boy’s eyes had narrowed slightly and how his fingers twitched were indication enough to her. She knew Zabini well and she knew that Zabini knew her well too.

 

“War is coming, heirs of the families who did not take the mark.” Harry warned, tilting his head in mock innocence, “And this time there will be a winner.”

 

“And do you know who the winner would be then?” Daphne pressed, trying to keep her calm exterior. She knew Zabini was just waiting for her. If she cracked now, Zabini would do everything he can to take her away.

 

Away from Harry Potter…

 

It almost seemed so foolish now to think they could make Harry Potter dance to their tune. She should have realized something stranger, deeper and more complex was happening to Harry Potter. Theodore’s sudden interest and behaviour should have tipped her off.

 

How foolish of her.

 

Her ancestors would have been disappointed.

 

Harry’s lips curved into a predatory grin as he replied, “The side I would be on, of course.”

 

Daphne’s breath hitched and Zabini’s hands twitched when Harry gently grabbed her hand. Harry stared at her with eyes silently telling her to be careful of her next words, to think of how she would answer the question forming in Harry’s lips.

 

“The real question now is… which side are you on?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hahahahahaha.  
> I guess Daphne and Zabini’s plan backfired? XD  
> The shrinking spell Voldemort performed is Diminuendo from Order of the Phoenix. Timeline-wise, I took in consideration it made its first appearance in Order of The Phoenix and assumed that it’s a fifth year spell. Please correct me if there is any canon material that would suggest otherwise.


	16. Written in Stones

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry continues to play with the baby snakes. Voldemort approves.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Due to the fact I had no internet last week and I found some of my unfinished Harrymort fanfiction lying around so I finished them, there will be a few more uploads today. Yey?
> 
> Warning:  
> 1 unbeta'ed as usual  
> 2 starts not that Sirius then goes VERY VERY SIRIUS AT THE END  
> 3 Prepare your heart, guys. The end may very well hurt some of you (as the writer, I hope it does XD)

Harry waited patiently, staring intently at Daphne. He could feel the cold sweat leaving the pureblood’s hand yet Harry continued to hold her hand, his fingers pressing lightly against the part of her wrist where he could feel her heartbeat. He could feel Daphne’s elevated heart rate and could hear her heavy breathing which only served to amuse him.

 

It took a few seconds before Daphne’s heart rate returned to normal. Her eyes had narrowed slightly yet her voice remained calm and pleasant as she asked, “And what would be required from our families to be accepted to your side, Lord Potter?”

 

One of Harry’s eyebrows rose at the new title as he stared at Daphne. When Daphne remained silent, Harry used his free hand to cut a bite-sized piece from the new treacle tart on his plate. He let the two pure-bloods warily stare at him as he ate the bite-sized piece. Harry casually chewed the treacle goodness in his mouth, letting the two Slytherins stew silently. When he finished the piece in his mouth, Harry lowered his eyes to stare at his plate as he cut another bite-sized portion. As he lazily stabbed the new portion with his fork, Harry asked, “Why do you wish to overthrow Draco?”

 

Daphne was mildly surprised by the sudden question but only took a second to recovery and answered, “My father and Lucius Malfoy wish to tighten our families’ alliance through marriage.”

 

Harry raised his head and asked, “You and Malfoy?”

 

Daphne’s lips curved into a slight scowl as she replied, “I would rather not be tied down to Draco if possible.”

 

“Oh?”

 

“He has the potential to be a great pure-blood leader and he is growing up to be qualified to be the head of the Malfoy family but…” Daphne sighed and turned slightly to the side, staring at the empty courtyard as she admitted, “He and I do not… agree on many things.”

 

Harry raised an eyebrow at that statement.

 

“Draco grew up with a traditional pure-blood mother. Narcissa Malfoy is a wonderful woman and a talented witch but her strength lies on…” Daphne’s lips curved into a slight frown as she finished, “… the domestic side.”

 

“Like taking care of the house and gossiping?” Harry asked with amusement dancing in his eyes.

 

“Yes.” Daphne turned to face Harry and explained, “Draco expects his future wife to be someone who takes care of the house, attends tea parties to gossip with other pure-blood wives, and appear like a dressed up doll while he strengthens the political hold of the Malfoy family in the Ministry.”

 

“And you don’t want to be that kind of wife.” Harry concluded before eating the piece on his fork.

 

“No.” Daphne sneered, “Tea parties are fun once in a while but spending my entire life having to listen to other pure-blood wives gossip about who is cheating with whom or who is rumoured to have sired a squib is not the future I desire for myself.”

 

Internally, Harry wondered if he would be expected to be like that. He tried imagining it but he only managed to imagine having tea with Molly Weasley and Hermione, both of which won’t shut up about topics Harry could care less.

 

Voldemort pushed the word “NO” towards their mental link and it took a lot of willpower not to outwardly grin at the hint of disgust coming from Voldemort.

 

“Taking the leadership from Draco would force my father to back down from arranging a marriage between us.” Daphne explained, “A Greengrass lady will not marry those inferior to them.”

 

An amused smirk appeared on Harry’s lips at the image of Draco being inferior to someone as pleasant and lovely as Daphne.

 

“But then your family would have problems finding you a fiancé.” Theodore countered and Harry took another piece, letting his Knight talk for him, “If you take Malfoy’s leadership, you would need to find a partner who has a higher standing than the Malfoys. That is a very small candidate list.”

 

“I know.” Daphne calmly said to Theodore before turning to stare at Harry as she proposed, “Will you consider being married to me, Lord Potter?”

 

Harry’s eyebrows rose as he asked ludicrously, “Excuse me?” 

 

Harry’s surprise was not simply because of Daphne’s sudden proposal but because of the flair of emotion he felt from Voldemort.

 

Anger…

 

Voldemort was angry at Daphne’s proposal.

 

Past experience with the diary made Harry realize easily enough that the anger was because Voldemort considered Harry as his.

 

Voldemort was a possessive person, Harry knew that.

 

He knew that very well…

 

“The Potter family is one of the most respected old Noble Houses. While you are a half-blood, the blood of the Black family runs in your vein as well and you have the highest possibility of being the next head of House Black since your godfather, Sirius Black, is the current Lord Black.” Daphne explained, causing Harry’s thoughts to return to the real world and not in the depths of his memories.

 

Wait. Sirius was the head of House Black?

 

That was news to Harry.

 

From the surprise he felt coming from Voldemort, it seemed that information was also news to the Dark Lord.

 

“House Black is one of the noble and most ancient Houses in Magical Britain. Their lineage is said to be as old as the Slytherin line itself.” Daphne continued to explain, not noticing how her words have affected both Harry and Voldemort.

 

Sirius’ family was as old as the Slytherin line?!

 

“As such, you have a greater standing than Draco will ever have as the next head of House Potter and House Black.” Daphne’s eyes stared at Harry seriously as she added, “Marrying me will be beneficial to you.”

 

“And why is that?” Harry asked, staring at the young heiress in front of him as he finished his treacle tart.

 

“If I receive Theodore’s support, I can take the leadership from Draco, the future head of House Malfoy. This will further my standing in our community.” Daphne leaned forward, just as another treacle tart popped on Harry’s plate, and continued, “The Greengrass family is a respectable House that has not earned as much ire from the populace, unlike other pure-blood families. By marrying me, you would have access to the Dark families without being ostracized by the Light families.”

 

Harry leaned forward as well and asked, “Why would I want that?”

 

Daphne seemed surprised by that question and it took a second before she could ask back, “Is that not what you desire? To have the support of both the Light and the Dark families?”

 

Harry raised an eyebrow at that question and Theodore looked a bit confused.

 

“Do you honestly believe having the blind loyalty of the fickle Light families would be enough to become the leader of Magical Britain?” Daphne asked ludicrously.

 

Harry blinked.

 

Once.

 

Twice.

 

He snorted.

 

Harry quickly covered his mouth but couldn’t stop the bubbling laughter threatening to escape his lips.

 

A second later and he finally lost it.

 

Harry laughed loudly, leaning back as his shoulders began to tremble at the force of his laughter.

 

He could feel the annoyance and amusement of Voldemort through their link.

 

It took a couple of seconds before Harry finally calmed enough to ask between gasps of air, “You think… I want… to lead this shithole?”

 

The three Slytherins were both surprised by the vulgar word that slipped Harry’s lips.  Voldemort was only a bit annoyed at the lack of decorum his future consort had but did not go into a fit. He knew better than to push one of the buttons that unleashes the mini-Walburga.

 

Harry didn’t bother apologizing and simply continued with an amused smile, “I have no desire to lead a community filled with unruly selfish arrogant children.”

 

“Excuse me?” Daphne’s tone was a pitch higher and that only made Harry’s smile grown.

 

He remembered he said similar things to Voldemort, losing his temper because Voldemort was being stupid. Fortunately for Daphne, Harry saw both of them as children who do not know enough. Voldemort had no excuse.

 

Voldemort only shoved his annoyance in their mental link. Harry retorted with a mental image of him sticking his tongue out.

 

“This magical community can’t even decide if they hate me or love me. One moment, I’m a sweet innocent saviour. The next moment, I’m a fame-seeking attention whore.” Harry explained, cutting a bite sized portion from his new treacle tart, “I don’t have the patience nor am I kind enough to lead this fickle community. I have no desire to waste my life trying to keep the populace in line.”

 

“What about the advancement of the people, of _our_ people?” Zabini hissed, glaring at Harry as he ate the piece.

 

Harry shrugged and replied lazily as he cut another bite-sized portion, “Not my problem.”

 

Advancement of the Magical Community and leading the populace were Voldemort’s desires.

 

Harry would help Voldemort if needed but he will not be in the frontline with the politicians or the populace.

 

Voldemort gave him a mental question in the same elegant writing as the diary’s.

 

_How will you help then?_

 

…

 

…

 

Moral support?

 

Harry mentally heard countless snakes hissing angrily at him which only made his smile grow.

 

Harry finished his treacle tart before continuing, “There are other people more qualified in leading this community. I’m just a fourteen year old boy. I don’t have the proper training in politics and economy to even lead a town, let alone a whole community. Not to mention…”

 

Harry tapped his fork against his plate, making another treacle tart appear on it, as he licked his lips. Theodore stared at Harry’s plate with wide eyes, debating if he should ask his Little Lord to stop. He was pretty sure his Lord will not approve of his future consort’s gluttonous appetite.

 

“I’m more incline to Crucio everyone rather than negotiate and flatter them.” Harry admitted with a predatory grin. Both Daphne and Zabini straightened their back at that sentence and Theodore’s widened eyes rose to stare at Harry.

 

Voldemort supposed it was an improvement that Harry would rather torture now than right out kill them like the Mini-Walburga had warned a few days before.

 

“As for the more your proposal, Daphne…” Harry mused as he cut a bite sized piece of his new treacle tart.

 

“If, and this is a big if…” Harry emphasized before continued, “I wanted to marry into a magical family, I would pick a more…”

 

Harry grinned mischievously as he finished, “… controversial one.”

 

Daphne’s eyes widened as she realized what he meant. It was Zabini who finally asked as Harry ate the piece, “The Dark Lord’s son?! Are you insane?!”

 

Harry continued to grin at Zabini as he replied, “Why not? He and I had a fantastic time just a few hours ago. He and I…”

 

Harry pretended to think for a few seconds before he continued, “… shared a connection. A strange but profound _bond_ , you might even say.”

 

“But he’s the Dark Lord’s son. Even you would be able to realize how dangerous it would be to marry him.” Zabini hissed, leaning forward. His eyebrow twitched at how nonchalant Harry simply cut another piece of his treacle tart.

 

“Why?” Harry drawled before eating the bite size portion, keeping the tip of his fork gently pressed against his bottom lip as he stared innocently at Zabini.

 

“Why?! Because his father tried to kill you and you had supposedly vanquished him!” Zabini’s voice continued to grow louder as he continued, “He could easily be planning to gain your trus-“

 

“The side you are on…” Daphne cut Zabini off before her childhood friend could dig himself a deeper grave. She had seen the anger simmering in Theodore’s eyes and managed to piece Harry’s little breadcrumbs together, “… it’s the Dark, isn’t it?”

 

Harry’s grin turned more predatory as he commented, “Good to know one of you thinks.”

 

“Is…” Daphne took a deep breath before asking, “Is Marvolo Slytherin following his father’s footsteps?”

 

“Is he a Dark Lord?” Harry bluntly asked what Daphne really meant. Daphne gave a grave nod and Harry finished his treacle tart as he thought about how to answer Daphne’s question.

 

Harry stared at Daphne silently.

 

He remembered the weak parasite on the back of Quirrel’s head.

 

He remembered the arrogant _emotional_ boy.

 

He remembered the man he was now being forced to marry.

 

Harry’s lips curved into a smile.

 

“He is so much more.” He said softly, a soft smile on his face. His smile turned more mischievous as he continued, “He’s more powerful, smarter, and he will do what the Dark Lord couldn’t.”

 

What Tom Marvolo Riddle couldn’t do…

 

“And what must we do to be on the winning side?” Daphne asked calmly yet Harry felt her heartbeat go faster.

 

“I don’t know.” Harry casually said as he shrugged before he asked in a slightly bored tone, “What can you offer?”

 

“The Greengrass family and the Zabini family are both respectable Houses-“

 

“-that did not take the Dark Lord’s mark last time.” Harry cut her off, stabbing his remaining treacle tart. Harry stared at Daphne as he casually asked, “Your Houses are not loyal to the Dark. You are loyal to yourselves. Why would we need you?”

 

Both Zabini and Daphne stared at him silently yet Harry knew that Zabini was close to getting his wand. He could see the slight twitching of his dominant wand. On his side, Theodore was already holding his wand, hidden by the sleeve of his robes.

 

Not that Harry needed it.

 

He had a big bad Dark Lord behind him, ready to wandlessly and nonverbally hex anyone who would dare try to attack Harry.

 

“What about if we swear our loyalty to you?” Daphne asked, making all three boys (and one Dark Lord) stare at her. Harry raised an eyebrow at that question so Daphne explained, “Yes, we did not swear our loyalty to the Dark Lord during the first war but what about now? What if we swear our loyalty to you?”

 

“To me?” Harry repeated with a hint of amusement.

 

“It doesn’t take a genius to see that the Lovegood heir has sworn her loyalty to you. There is a difference between how she treats you and how you were treated by the blood traitors and that mud-blood of ours.” Daphne explained, her voice pleasant even when her words were insults. Harry was impressed and wondered if he could sound just as pleasant while insulting people. Daphne twisted the hand Harry was holding so that she was holding Harry’s hand instead of Harry holding her wrist. Her palm was cold yet her voice was warm as she continued, “Blaise and I, the heirs of our Houses, will swear our loyalty to you. Doing so will gain you the loyalty of our Houses, prominent Dark families of similar standings as the Malfoys.”

 

“But you wish to swear your loyalty to me, not to my future husband?” Harry asked with a small amused smile while Zabini narrowed his eyes.

 

“We are not even sure if you would marry-“

 

“I will.” Harry cut Zabini in midsentence while keeping his eyes at Daphne, “Marvolo Slytherin and I will marry this Yule. As far as the populace is concern, today is our first meeting but we already made plans.”

 

Harry wondered if he was giving too much information yet Voldemort did not send him any warning or any orders to stop so he simply continued, “That is the undeniable and irrefutable fact.”

 

“A marriage of convenience and allegiance then.” Daphne commented pleasantly.

 

Harry’s lips curved into a smirk as he retorted, “Or love at first sight.”

 

“Please do not insult my intelligence, Lord Potter.” Daphne said pleasantly, “There is no such thing as love at first sight.”

 

“Now you’re just being cynical.” Harry teased.

 

“And you are definitely not a romantic.” Daphne retorted with a smile, “You are as Slytherin as everyone else in this table. You might wear the crest of the lion on your robes but we know a fellow snake when we see one. You don’t believe in love at first sight.”

 

Daphne’s brows slightly furrowed as she asked, “Do you even believe in love, Lord Potter?”

 

Harry’s smile froze as his mind pushed a memory he desperately wished to bury deep inside him.

 

**_There is only one person I have felt very strongly for._ **

 

Harry pushed the memory off a mental cliff, letting it fall into a black abyss. He knew Voldemort read that thought, recognized the handwriting yet Harry paid him no attention.

 

“No.” His tone was confident and calm as he continued, “I don’t.”

 

“Then you must realize the risk of marrying a Dark Lord.” Daphne pressed, tightening her grip on Harry’s hand lightly, “He would have the loyalty of many Dark families.”

 

“House Nott among them.” Daphne reminded him with a glance towards Theodore.

 

Theodore’s eyes narrowed and he hissed, “Be careful of your next words, _Greengrass_.”

 

“You only have House Lovegood on your side.” Daphne leaned closer and whispered, “And it doesn’t take a genius to know that you would be the lesser one in your marriage with Lord Slytherin. Having two prominent Dark families loyal to you would be beneficial to you.”

 

“You make it sound like there will come a time when my future husband and I would get a divorce.” Harry teased playfully but he was internally wondering if Daphne was going too far. He liked her. She knew what she wanted and did what was needed to get it. It would be a shame for her to disappear because she had angered Voldemort.

 

“It’s always a possibility.” Daphne replied softly, “It’s not practiced frequently in the Magical Community but it does happen. A marriage of convenience such as yours could easily fall prey to such an end. I simply wish to ensure you do not drown in the middle of a sea because of lack of… allies…”

 

“Allies?” Harry repeated before commenting, “If you do swear loyalty to me, we won’t be allies. You would be my lackeys and I don’t know if I want lackeys who only swore their loyalty to me because they want to save their own hides. Quite frankly-“

 

“Take them.”

 

Harry’s rant came to a halt and the three Slytherins’ eyes widened at the new voice. Voldemort removed the cloak around him gracefully and Theodore immediately knelt in front of him as he proclaimed, “My Lord!”

 

Daphne and Zabini hurriedly stood but froze when Voldemort lazily waved a hand towards them, silently and wandlessly freezing them before they could say or do anything. Harry pouted and leaned back, letting Voldemort sit on Theodore’s seat while Theodore stood behind them, as the younger wizard said, “I was having fun, you know.”

 

“Yes, I know.” Voldemort waved his hand towards Harry, making Harry’s seat creak in protest as it skid towards Voldemort. Voldemort turned his upper body slightly so he was facing the pouting boy and said as he caressed Harry’s cheek, “If I let you go on with this charade, you would have spent the entire night, waiting for either heir to finally crack and do something foolish all for your own entertainment.”

 

Harry turned to grin at Voldemort and leaned closer as he commented, “It was fun making them lose their pure-blood mask.”

 

“Yes, I suppose it is.” Voldemort affectionately replied, making Harry wonder if Voldemort was pretending to be a loving fiancé or he finally… broke. The narrowing of Voldemort’s eyes answered Harry’s question.

 

The first one… definitely the first one…

 

Voldemort turned to face the two frozen Slytherins and commented, “House Zabini and House Greengrass would both be beneficial to my plans.”

 

Harry shrugged as he lazily suggested, “Then you mark them.”

 

“No. They wish for their loyalties to be with you.” Voldemort retorted casually, “Take them.”

 

Harry pouted and replied, “I really don’t want puppies who want me because I’m the… non-Dark Lord one.”

 

“Regardless of their dubious reasons for becoming loyal to you, a loyalty oath cannot be broken.” Voldemort explained, grabbing Harry’s hand before the boy could stab the remaining Treacle Tart on his plate. Harry pouted but let Voldemort pull his hand to rest on the table, between the two of them. To their audience, it might seem like an affectionate gesture but Harry knew Voldemort only wanted him to stop eating the sinful goodness in front of him.  Voldemort absently caressed the back of Harry’s palm with his thumb as he explained, “It will be beneficial to you to have more loyalty oaths, especially loyalty oaths of heirs here in Hogwarts.”

 

Harry turned to face Voldemort and asked, “More insurance after Yule?”

 

“Yes.” Voldemort nodded and added, “Besides, the Malfoy heir will be peeved once he learned of their new allegiance.”

 

Harry’s lips curved into a smirk as he commented, “Well, when you put it that way…”

 

Harry grinned at Daphne and said, “Congratulations, Daphne. You got your wish.”

 

Voldemort let go of Harry’s hand and waved at the two Slytherins, unfreezing them. Both of them took an involuntarily step back while Harry stood, grinning at both of them as he congratulated, “Welcome to the winning side.”

 

Daphne and Zabini immediately knelt in front of them and Daphne replied, “It is an honour to be in your service, My Lord.”

 

Harry walked towards the two and shrugged before dismissing, “Yes, yes. I feel your gratitude. My loyalty oaths, if you would…”

 

Daphne immediately took out her wand and proclaimed, “I, Daphne Greengrass, heir of House Greengrass, hereby declare Harry James Potter, heir of House Potter, as My Lord and as the Lord of my future descendants until time exist no more. So mote it be.”

 

Harry took a deep breath as soft light enveloped both him and Daphne for a moment. He waited for the light to fully dissipate before turning to stare at Zabini. Zabini took out his wand as well and proclaimed, “I, Blaise Zabini, heir of the House Zabini, hereby declare Harry James Potter, heir of House Potter, as My Lord and as the Lord of my future descendants until time exist no more. So mote it be.”

 

Soft light enveloped both Harry and Zabini. Once that dissipated, Daphne gently grabbed Harry’s hand and kissed his knuckle before whispering with a bow, “My Lord.”

 

One of Harry’s eyebrow rose when Zabini grabbed his hand as well and kissed his knuckle before whispering with the same bow, “My Lord.”

 

He turned towards Voldemort with a questioning gaze. Behind the Dark Lord, Theodore was beaming proudly at Harry. Voldemort leaned against his seat as he explained, “That is how most witches and wizards greet the lord they proclaim their loyalty to. Your precious puppy lacks proper decorum.”

 

Harry wrinkled his nose and replied, “I rather like how Luna greets me.”

 

Harry patted both Zabini’s and Daphne’s head like they were dogs and ordered, “Get up, you two, and next time you greet me, just bow or curtsy to me. No need to be on your knees and kiss my hand.”

 

Harry grinned as he added, “Unlike some egotistic self-centred prats I know, I don’t need people grovelling all over me.”

 

Voldemort rolled his eyes while Zabini and Daphne stood stiffly. Daphne was the one who whispered, “We thank you for your kindness, My Lord.”

 

Harry clicked his tongue in annoyance and grabbed Daphne by the chin. He pushed her head up so she was forced to stare at him as he ordered, “Stop acting like I’m going to Crucio you if you look at me. I like you when you had that fire in your eyes. I don’t need grovelling frightened puppies.”

 

Daphne’s lips curved into a small smile as she replied with growing confidence, “Forgive me, My Lord, I will endeavour not to disappoint you again.”

 

Harry chuckled and replied, “Make sure you don’t.”

 

Harry stepped away from Daphne and turned towards Zabini, He crossed his arms as he asked, “You finally going to stop with the creepy flirting?”

 

Zabini’s lips curved into a small smirk as he replied, “Forgive me, My Lord, but creepy flirting is a family trait, I’m afraid.”

 

Voldemort didn’t bother to hide his angry growl as he glared at Zabini. Zabini immediately looked down at the floor once more while Daphne painfully elbowed him on the ribs, eliciting a cute grunt from the Zabini heir.

 

Harry laughed, turning to smile at Voldemort as he said, “I like him now.”

 

“You like him because of my reactions.” Voldemort growled with obvious displeasure.

 

“You know I belong only to you, Love Tart.” Harry cheekily teased while Voldemort glared at him.

 

“Don’t push me, luv. I will kill your precious puppy if he so much as touches you.” Voldemort warned with false pleasantry.

 

“He already did.” Harry reminded him in a singsong manner, wiggling the hand that Zabini kissed just a moment ago. Voldemort actually rose from his seat, only making Harry’s grin grow while Zabini took another step back and Daphne froze. Harry stepped in front of Zabini, effectively making himself a human shield, as he placated his possessive fiancé, “Relax, you overly possessive prat. Zabini promises not to touch me inappropriately anymore. Don’t you, Zabini?”

 

“I promise, My Lord.” Zabini immediately replied.

 

“Excellent.” Harry grinned and asked Voldemort giddily, “Do you have any errands for my new puppies, luv? ‘Cause if you don’t, I have some errands for them.”

 

Harry batted his eyelashes as he sweetly added, “I promise it won’t get in the way with your plans.”

 

Voldemort sat back on his seat and waved his hand dismissively as he said, “Do what you wish. My current plans do not need them as of yet.”

 

“Fantastic!” Harry turned to grin at the two Slytherins. He turned towards Daphne and ordered gleefully, “Theo’s going to support your claim over the leadership of your year mates. Take it away from Malfoy as soon as possible, preferably in front of many witnesses with future political inclination.”

 

Daphne bowed as she replied with the same gleefulness Harry had, “It would be my pleasure, My Lord.”

 

“Zabini…” Harry looked at the ceiling in mock thoughtfulness before asking, “Have you tried your creepy flirting with Parkinson?”

 

Zabini raised an eyebrow and replied casually, “No, My Lord. Draco is all Pansy sees, I’m afraid, and she is not… that pleasing as a decoration and as a companion, I’m afraid.”

 

“But…” Harry stared at Zabini and smirked as he asked, “If she was to, let’s say, stop grovelling all over Malfoy and begin showing promise, will you be able to take her away from Malfoy?”

 

Zabini’s lips curved into a small smirk as he asked, “Does My Lord wish to have Pansy’s loyalty?”

 

Harry snorted before replying, “No, Parkinson is my fiancé’s followers. I simply wish to…”

 

“… help maintain Daphne’s leadership.” Harry casually said, making Zabini’s smirk grew.

 

“Away from Draco?” Zabini added with amusement.

 

“Yes.” Harry replied, grinning as he asked, “You won’t let me down, will you, Zabini? No need to make her fall in love with you or procure a marriage contract. I simply think it would be easier to get Parkinson to Daphne’s side if it was you and not Daphne.”

 

Harry turned to comment at Daphne with furrowed confused brows, “The girl seemed to have some problems with you.”

 

“She doesn’t like that I have a higher chance of being Draco’s wife, I’m afraid.” Daphne explained with small resigned smile, “The poor girl has been pining over Draco since we were children.”

 

“Merlin knows why though.” Harry mumbled with a roll of his eyes.

 

“Is that all, Harry?” Voldemort cut him off, making Harry turn to grin at him and nod.

 

“Yup. I’m okay now.” Harry giddily replied, making Voldemort nod.

 

“Good because I remembered that we forgot to tell your new puppies one small detail before they gave their loyalty oath.” Voldemort said, his lips curving into a sadistic smirk, “My marriage with Harry will be a magical one.”

 

Both Slytherins’ eyes widened at that.

 

“As such, we cannot be separated by something as weak as a divorce and…” Voldemort’s smirk turned more predatory as he added, “… all of our magical properties, such as loyalty oaths, will be shared once we marry.”

 

Harry almost grinned as he saw how pale the two Slytherins became. He cooed, “So sorry. I totally forgot about that little detail.”

 

“Leave us.” Voldemort ordered abruptly, making both heirs jump slightly.

 

“Yes, My Lord.” All three Slytherins immediately replied, bowing at them. Daphne and Zabini hurriedly walked away, making Harry cover his mouth to muffle his chuckling at the poor baby snakes. Before Theodore could follow them, Voldemort stopped him, “Theodore.”

 

Theodore turned around to face both Harry and Voldemort and bowed as he asked, “Yes, My Lord?”

 

“Do not tell them who I truly am or why I am here. As far as they are concerned I am Marvolo Slytherin. If they ask why I am here, tell them Harry had suggested I hide in his invisible cloak and see my supposed father’s school.” Voldemort ordered.

 

“That’s a flimsy reason.” Harry commented, sitting on Daphne’s seat and devouring her untouched treacle tart.

 

Voldemort glared at him as he retorted, “They’re magical. Magical people rarely are logical.”

 

Harry shrugged as he agreed, “Fair enough.”

 

“Besides, even if they manage to think it is flimsy, they will be too afraid to voice their comments.” Voldemort added with a roll of his eyes. He stared at Theodore as he dismissed him, “Goodnight, Theodore.”

 

Theodore bowed at the two of them once more as he replied, “Goodnight, My Lord, Little Lord.”

 

Voldemort watched Theodore leave while Harry finished Daphne’s treacle tart. Once her plate was clean, he leaned forward to grab Zabini’s but stopped when Voldemort solemnly proclaimed, “We need to talk, Harry.”

 

Harry remained silent.

 

“About my diary.”

 

“I don’t want to talk about him.” Harry immediately said, leaning against the backrest of his seat.

 

“For someone who said the diary meant nothing to him, your thoughts seem to go to that diary far too often.” Voldemort pressed on regardless with a clipped tone.

 

“Don’t you know, Tom? People lie.” Harry retorted with the same clipped tone.

 

“I do and I would prefer if you don’t lie to me.” Voldemort sneered, glaring at Harry.

 

“I do not wish to talk about Tom.” Harry turned his head to stare the courtyard outside.

 

“Which Tom?” Voldemort sneered, “Me or my diary? It gets quite confusing at times which Tom you are referring to in your thoughts and in your words.”

 

Harry sighed tiredly before he snapped, “Does it matter?”

 

“It does when I feel the pain that accompanies your memories of my diary.” Voldemort’s voice rose slightly.

 

Harry turned to glare at Voldemort as he sarcastically snapped at him, “Oh, so sorry you had to feel that. If only you couldn’t read my bloody thoughts.”

 

“Do not be cheeky with me, Harry.” Voldemort snapped back, “I have a right to know about your relationship with my diary.”

 

“Why? Jealous?” Harry sneered.

 

“If I say yes, would you stop being such an annoying brat and answer my question?” There was a hint of resignation in Voldemort’s annoyed question.

 

Harry paused at that answer, staring at the glaring Dark Lord. Harry sighed and shook his head as he said solemnly, “No.”

 

“Why not?”

 

“Because I can’t! I can’t talk about Tom!” Harry shouted before sighing and rubbing his forehead as he softly explained, “I don’t want to talk about Tom. Not yet. Not for a very long time.”

 

“Why?”

 

Harry stared at Voldemort for a moment before he finally stood. He walked towards him, walking around the table. He stopped right in front of Voldemort and whispered, “Tom is… was my cruellest torturer.”

 

Harry knelt in front of Voldemort and placed both of his hands on Voldemort’s knees as he continued, “If you knew what he did, if you knew what happened between us… I fear that you would take his place.”

 

“I will not harm you, Harry.” Voldemort whispered, covering both of Harry’s hands with gentleness he didn’t even know he possessed.

 

“Not yet.” Harry corrected and solemnly continued, “But you will. You will harm me and give me the cruellest torture of all and, when that time comes, I fear I will not be able to heal. The scars Tom left are still here, festering like disgusting infected wounds with no treatment. All I can do is pretend it’s not there but I can feel it. The simplest things will remind me of the wounds left by Tom and I can’t… stop it…”

 

“So please, don’t ask about him, don’t react to any of my thoughts of him and let’s just pretend he doesn’t exist.” Harry let his head rest on Voldemort’s lap as he pleaded, “Please, let’s pretend you won’t be my cruellest torturer in the future.”

 

“… Please…”

 

Voldemort could only caress Harry’s hair as he felt Harry’s pain and sorrow over their link. He didn’t know if all the pain and sorrow in their link was Harry’s alone or if he was also in pain and in sorrow for the boy in front of him.

 

The only emotion that Voldemort was absolutely sure was his was the anger.

 

Anger towards his diary Hocrux for causing such pain to his Harry…

 

“If that is your desire, I will honour it.” Voldemort leaned closer as he warned, “For now.”

 

“Thank you.” Harry whispered softly.

 

“But remember this, Harry.” Voldemort stared at Harry with clear red eyes, “I will not harm you.”

 

Harry’s lips curved into a sad broken smile as he corrected, “You wouldn’t want to but you will.”

 

Harry raised his head and stared at Voldemort’s clear red eyes with his broken green eyes. He placed his hands on Voldemort’s cheeks as he whispered with a fond broken smile, “You will become my greatest cruellest torturer, my dear Dark Lord.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The first thought I had after writing this was “How many treacle tarts did Harry eat? XD”
> 
> Okay. Just to clear things up, the cruellest torture Harry means is in Musing of a Diary Hocrux and Harry means ‘hope’. Calling Tom his cruellest torturer is because Tom gave him hope, gave him his greatest hope and he knows Voldemort would do the same thing soon enough.
> 
> Voldemort, on the other hand, thinks the diary did something really, really bad (which he did, according to Harry, because Harry thinks HOPE IS BAD).


	17. Dual surprises

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry remembers not everything can be cured by adding a spoonful of sugar and… apparently wants to be Sleeping Beauty?
> 
> (also known as the chapter summary the author couldn’t think of without giving too much away)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay. Life (and by life, I meant work) caught up with me and started chocking me these past weeks. The torture is still ongoing so I have no idea when the next chapter will be posted. Sorry TTATT
> 
> Usual Warnings:  
> 1 unbeta'ed as usual  
> 2 god, it’s still a bit Sirius  
> 3 we have fluff as well? I guess?

There was something quite calming and relaxing just kneeling on the floor with his head on Voldemort’s lap. Harry knew his neck would hurt tomorrow and his legs were staring to fall asleep but the soft caresses of Voldemort’s hand on his messy locks and the relaxed silence between the two of them seemed so worth it in Harry’s mind right now. He knew that he had just prolonged the inevitable but if it meant being able to just relax like this then he’d take it. He knew that nothing in the world would continue to be as peaceful as their current predication right now but he honestly didn’t care at the moment. He knew that Voldemort was silently mulling over his words, probably planning something to keep his promise.

 

A promise Harry knew Voldemort will be unable to keep.

 

It was always going to be the end game of Voldemort, of Tom Riddle. There was no other ways it would end.

 

Voldemort’s soft caresses froze at Harry’s thought yet Harry didn’t even feel bad that Voldemort had heard his thoughts. Harry simply sighed and rubbed his cheek against Voldemort’s lap, silently asking for the return of that soothing touch.

 

He had never felt anything so calming before.

 

That thought seemed to have unfreeze Voldemort and the older wizard continued his soft caresses.

 

If this continued, Harry might actually fall asleep in this very awkward position.

 

He deserved it anyway. The amount of acting he had to do for the entire day was draining. If he could, he would very much like to just sleep tomorrow away without a care in the world. Their ‘date’ would most probably get published on tomorrow’s papers anyway. It might be easier to just feign sickness than have to go through the entire day being the focus of Hogwarts’ latest gossip.

 

Just as he was about to actually fall asleep, he heard the sounds of a pair of hurried footsteps. Voldemort hissed and Harry groaned in protest when he was pulled up immediately. Harry wobbled, trying to get his legs to carry his weight while Voldemort hurriedly wrapped the Invisibility Cloak around him. Harry leaned against one of the walls, sighing tiredly as he rubbed his eyes. The hurried footsteps were growing louder, telling Harry that they were coming closer. Harry closed his eyes and slowly counted to ten as he tried to regain his normal expression.

 

Before he even managed to get to five, the footsteps began running towards his direction. Harry hid his wand inside his outer robe and opened his eyes. He blinked when he recognized who were running towards him. Harry gasped as he was suddenly grabbed by both arms and dragged backwards, a sense of déjà vu suddenly overcoming him for a split second.

 

“He-hey!” Harry shouted as he continued to be dragged out of the courtyard. Sensing his dear Dark Lord’s growing anger, Harry flailed as he ordered, “Let go! Fred! George!”

 

“Sorry, Harrykins.” Fred replied with a playful grin.

 

“Not going to happen.” George continued.

 

Honestly, Harry didn’t even know which one was Fred and which one was George. He just had the habit of mentally calling the first twin to talk as Fred every time they conversed. He didn’t even call them by names anymore in the first place. It was just easier to stare at one of them if he ever needed to ask something than try to guess who was who.

 

“If we let you go now…” The twin Harry was mentally calling Fred at the moment started which Harry knew would be finished by…

 

“… you’ll disappear before we can catch you again.” By the other twin Harry was now mentally calling George.

 

Harry rolled his eyes and deadpanned as he stared at the castle which was getting smaller and smaller as he got dragged, “That doesn’t mean you guys have to drag me around wherever the bloody hell you want.”

 

Harry tried to turn around to look at where they were going as he asked, “Where are you dragging me to anyway?”

 

“The Forbidden Forest.” The twins replied in unison, making Harry’s eyes widened.

 

“Why?” Harry’s tone was a pitch higher and he could feel Voldemort’s anger growing. Trying to defuse his fiancé’s explosive temper, Harry sarcastically asked, “Did you guys forget something?”

 

“Hear that, Gred?” Fred grinned, “Harrykins’ snarking at us.”

 

“I heard, Forge.” George nodded in mocked horror, “What has happened to our sweet innocent baby Harrykins?”

 

Harry rolled his eyes and deadpanned, “Probably got sucked into another world by a magic mirror.”

 

The twins chuckled at Harry’s reply, finding it amusing even if they didn’t get the muggle related reference. Harry was growing a bit wary when he noticed that they _did_ enter the Forbidden Forest. The twins navigated the bushy forest with ease, making Harry wonder just how often these two pranksters would traverse the said forest. The twins were talking about how adorable Harry was when he had been eleven. Or was it twelve? Harry stopped paying attention to whatever they were saying the moment they had entered the forest, focusing on memorizing the way they were going in case he needed to make a quick escape.

 

Harry wouldn’t lie. Among the Weasleys he had met, the twins were the ones Harry had always paid close attention to. It was partially because they were fun to observe when they were pranking someone but it was mostly because the twins were the most unpredictable of the bunch. They were mischievous at heart and Harry knew that it was the thinking types who were most often the observant ones. As such, he made sure to keep a close tab on the twins to ensure he wouldn’t get caught being… well, himself…

 

That didn’t mean he would spend his entire time listening to whatever topic the twins decided to talk about. Some were fun to listen to but Harry was too tired to even try and find out what they were talking about now. He just wanted to rest.

 

Preferably on Voldemort’s lap…

 

Damn it.

 

The Dark Lord was spoiling him!

 

Harry’s lips curved into a small grin as he felt Voldemort’s annoyance at his thoughts.

 

The twins finally stopped and made Harry turn around to face them. Harry crossed his arms and glared at the twins as he asked, “If I ask what I’m doing here, would you answer?”

 

“Do you have your Invisibility Cloak with you?” Fred asked seriously, making Harry blink at the twins.

 

They were both staring at Harry with serious expressions on their faces and that only made Harry wary.

 

“Do I have it with me?” Harry clarified and the twins nodded. Harry shrugged before shaking his head as he replied, “No. I don’t.”

 

It wasn’t _technically_ with him since his dear Dark Lord was currently using it.

 

“I guess we improvise then.” George commented before they grabbed Harry’s arms again. They quickly went towards the bushes and pretty much pushed Harry to sit on one of the thicker bushes around them.

 

Harry was about to hiss at them for manhandling him but both older boys shushed him and Fred whispered, “Just be quiet for a bit, okay?”

 

Not waiting for Harry to reply, the twins rushed out of the bushes and stood just on the other side of the bush where Harry was currently crouching on. Harry turned slightly so that he was facing the way the twins had dragged him from when he heard one of the twins shout, “HEY! CHARLIE!”

 

Harry froze, trying to remember where he had heard of that name before. It sounded too familiar.

 

Well… Charlie, in general, was a very common name. He could already name at least five people named Charlie or Charles who had the nickname Charlie in muggle London alone.

 

It took a few seconds before a third voice shouted, “FRED?! GEORGE?!”

 

Harry tilted his head and frowned, noticing that the voice was slightly familiar. Against his better judgement, Harry turned around towards the bushes and tried to part the leaves and branches in front of him so he would have a clear view of what was in front of him. Harry saw that the twins stood a bit far away from usual, giving Harry an unobstructed view of what was in front of the twins. It was almost as if the twins knew Harry would part the bush where he was crouching in the first place. An older red haired man was running towards the twins. When he had stopped in front of the twins, Harry recognized enough resemblance from the other red heads he had met to realize that the man was another Weasley.

 

That’s when the name clicked.

 

Charlie Weasley… the other Hogwarts graduate who was now…

 

… a dragon tamer…

 

That last part only made Harry warier.

 

“Hey, Charlie. Just wanted to see you…” Fred greeted cheerfully.

 

“… before we go to sleep. We did miss you.” George continued with the same cheerfulness.

 

Charlie looked at them sceptically as he asked, “Even though you guys just talked to me this afternoon? With Ron and Ginny in fact.”

 

Ron and Ginny?

 

Fred and George shrugged simultaneously before Fred suggested, “Maybe we wanted to see those wicked dragons again.”

 

……………… Did he just say dragons?

 

As in… the plural term for dragon?

 

“Oh yeah. It seemed so dangerous to have the Triwizard’s first task about dragons, you know.” George added.

 

Harry felt as if his entire blood just turned freezing cold at those words.

 

DRAGONS!!!?

 

DRAGONS WERE THE FIRST TASK!!!?

 

“You guys are acting weird.” Charlie commented with an amused tone, “You two already knew about that. I told you when you guys visited me with Ron and Ginny. Ron even looked like he was about to throw up when he heard and Ginny looked ready to faint.”

 

If Harry hadn’t already been frozen by the fact that he was going to deal with dragons for the first bloody task, he would have been annoyed by the fact that his supposed best mate had known and didn’t even bother to tell him anything.

 

Unfortunately, Harry was too preoccupied trying not to hyperventilate there and then. He felt a hand on his shoulder and turned his head. Voldemort’s floating hand would have been funny if it hadn’t been for the fact that he just learned that DRAGONS WERE INVOLVED IN THE DAMN FIRST TASK!!!

 

Harry could feel his restraints loosing. Honestly, it felt more like he was just a shy away from actually screaming his head off and running far, far away.

 

So he did.

 

Harry didn’t even bother to be quiet and just ran off. He heard Charlie shout something similar to the word ‘hey’ but paid it no attention, running as fast as his legs could carry him.

 

Instead of returning to the castle, he began running towards the gates.

 

“HARRY! STOP!”

 

The loud commanding voice of Voldemort made Harry actually stop in his tracks. If he had been his usual calm self, he would have wondered why Voldemort’s voice managed to stop him instantly. He turned around and saw Voldemort walking towards him briskly. Harry snorted. Of course, the big bad Dark Lord wouldn’t run. It would be undignified!

 

Harry didn’t even bother to question how stupid Voldemort was right now, walking towards him without the safety of the cloak. Anyone would be able to see him. Harry didn’t even understand why Voldemort would take off the cloak in the first place. He could ask. It would seem like the kind of weird random question he would ask. Voldemort was already nearing him anyway. Just a few more steps and he would be in arm’s length.

 

When Voldemort was close enough that Harry could touch him if he outstretched his arm, the first words that came out of his mouth was not a question about Voldemort’s rationality but a demand in the words of “Take me away.”

 

Voldemort actually looked taken back by Harry’s words. Harry wrapped his arms around himself and begged, “Just take me away now, Tom! Take me away from all these!”

 

Voldemort’s hand reached out towards Harry but stopped before his fingers could even graze Harry’s arm. Voldemort’s hands formed into knuckles and he dropped his hands as he replied solemnly, “I can’t. Not yet. You need to remain here in Hogwarts.”

 

“Why?!” Harry exploded, unable to keep himself together, “I’m tired and I just found out I would have to face dragons for the first task! I bet my entire trust fund we’re not going to sing A Spoon Full of Sugar and then do a dance number with them! What other ways can these unimaginative magical idiots think on using dragons than to try and make them eat children!?”

 

“What does a spoon full of sugar have anything to do with dragons?” Voldemort asked in a slightly annoyed tone before ordering, “Calm down, Harry!”

 

“Calm down?! Calm down?!” Harry repeated, eyes wide as he ranted, “I just found out I have to fight dragons! I just found out I would have fight a freaking dragon!!”

 

“You don’t even know if you do have to fight a dragon.” Voldemort reminded him in a cool calm tone, “All you know dragons are involved.”

 

“And what other ways could you use a dragon in an event called a ‘task’ than to freaking sic them on poor innocent children like the sadistic bullies this entire community is!” Harry snarled, “I’m screwed! You hear me?! I’m so freaking screwed! I’m gonna have a Maleficent up on my arse and I happen to be the stupid love-sick prince dumb enough to try and go to a cursed castle because of the possibility I might get laid by a sleeping girl who in the original folklore was most probably centuries older than him anyway!”

 

Harry let out a frustrated scream before asking, “Why can’t I be Sleeping Beauty?! Why can’t I just sleep my days away and let some other poor stupid fool try and kill the dragon?! I’m fourteen, for Godric’s sake! I can’t fight a dragon! I don’t even know how to fight a dragon in the first place! I-“

 

Harry’s words came to sudden halt when Voldemort suddenly grabbed him by the arm. Voldemort pulled Harry towards him and Harry let out an unmanly yelp when his face collided with Voldemort’s chest, making his glasses dig against his skin and his nose was painfully pressed against Voldemort’s chest. Harry didn’t move, too surprised by the sudden contact, and only managed to deadpan, “Ow.”

 

 Voldemort wrapped an arm around Harry while another caressed Harry’s hair as he ordered in a slightly soft tone, “Calm down. I won’t let anything happen to you.”

 

“Then get me out of here.” Harry’s words were mumbled by the fabric of Voldemort’s robes.

 

“I cannot. Even if I do take you out of Hogwarts, you will still be bound to participate in this tournament.” Voldemort reminded him, “Failure to participate when you are able to will result to your death.”

 

“Can’t you argue that I’m unable to participate? I’m fourteen! My magical knowledge is worse than a pure-blood toddler!” Harry whined, punching Voldemort on the side when he heard the older wizard chuckle at the comparison.

 

“As long as you are breathing and able to perform magic, you will be considered as able.” Voldemort clarified as he continued to caress Harry’s hair. Harry turned his head so that his cheek was the one pressing against Voldemort’s chest instead of his nose and glasses.

 

Harry pouted as he mumbled, getting relaxed by the insistent soft caresses on his hair, “I don’t want to fight Maleficent.”

 

“You don’t have to.” Voldemort whispered softly, “We’ll think of something together.”

 

Harry closed his eyes and mumbled, “Why can’t _you_ just think of something and just tell me what to do?”

 

Voldemort rolled his eyes and replied, “A relationship between two people only works if both of them work together.”

 

Harry tiredly laughed and commented, “That’s rich, coming from the big bad Dark Lord.”

 

Voldemort grabbed Harry’s hair and tugged it. It wasn’t too hard to actually be painful by Harry’s standard but it was hard enough to make Harry stop laughing and pull him away from Voldemort’s chest. Harry grinned at Voldemort as he commented, “That actually made me feel better.”

 

“Did it now?” Voldemort drawled and pushed Harry away gently.

 

Harry rubbed his tired eyes and asked, “Did you… intentionally say that to make me laugh?”

 

Instead of replying, Voldemort asked back with raised eyebrow, “Do I look like the type of person to talk about relationships in general?”

 

Harry grinned at him but did not say anything else. He felt it would cheapen the moment if he did so he kept quiet. Voldemort stared at him silently for a moment before raising his hand to touch Harry’s cheek. Harry leaned to the touch, staring at Voldemort’s red eyes as the older man whispered, “You have such horrid glasses.”

 

Harry blinked for a couple of seconds before commenting in an amused tone, “Really, Tom? We were having a moment and you find it to be the proper time to take about my ugly glasses?”

 

“They’re absolutely horrible.” Voldemort reasoned, shaking his head in mild disgust, as he continued, “They hide those mesmerizing eyes of yours.”

 

Harry snickered and commented back, “Next time we get a moment like this, don’t comment about the glasses and just say I have nice eyes, okay?”

 

Voldemort rolled his eyes and declared, “You’ll need to get rid of them as soon as possible.”

 

Harry shook his head and deadpanned, “Unless you want me to be blind, I really can’t get rid of them.”

 

“There are rituals to correct one’s eyesight. There is even one ritual to heighten-“ Voldemort’s words came to a halt when they both heard the twins’ calling Harry’s name. They were still far enough to not see Voldemort but it wouldn’t be long before they catch up. Voldemort growled in annoyance and Harry grinned at the annoyed look his fiancé was currently sporting. Voldemort’s thumb caressed Harry’s cheek twice as he leaned forward. Harry froze as their faces came close to one another. A part of him wondered if Voldemort was actually going to kiss him. Voldemort froze once that thought entered their shared link.

 

“It’s… kinda the cliché thing to do.” Harry reasoned, wanting to hit his head repeatedly for sounding so out of breath as he stared at Voldemort’s lips. He heard Voldemort’s sharp intake of breath as Harry subconsciously bit his bottom lip.

 

They both stared at each other’s lips for an awkward amount of time, the only other sound to reach them were the insistent shouting of the Weasley twins. Once the shouting sounded like it was coming horribly closer than safe, Voldemort finally leaned in. Harry’s eyes closed instinctively as he felt Voldemort’s lips against his forehead. A soft almost inaudible whisper of “soon” against his forehead was all Harry managed to hear before Voldemort abruptly pulled away and hid under the invisibility cloak once more.

 

A few minutes later and Harry finally saw the silhouettes of the twins running towards him. Harry sighed tiredly and begrudgingly walked towards the castle once more. The twins managed to catch up to him just as he was about to enter the castle and they walked on both sides of Harry, silently staring at the quiet boy as they walked back to the dormitories.

 

Dear Godric.

 

Harry just wanted to go to sleep and not get up.

 

Preferably for the rest of the week…

 

He was so tired and drained by what he just learned that he didn’t even bother trying to understand why Voldemort had suddenly kissed his forehead. Some form of comfort perhaps?

 

It was only when they finally reached the portrait of the fat lady did Harry whispered, “Thanks.”

 

Both twins turned to stare at him while the fat lady stared at the three of them with curious boredom adorning her face.

 

“Animagi.” Harry stated the password and the portrait creaked open for the three of them (and the invisible Dark Lord behind them). They walked inside and Harry noticed that the common room was empty, a miracle by itself.

 

The twins patted both of Harry’s shoulders as Fred whispered, “Get some rest, mate.”

 

“You look like you’re going to drop already.” George commented, making Harry chuckle weakly.

 

“It has been a tiring day.” Harry admitted.

 

Understatement of the day if Harry was being honest…

 

Just as the twins were about to walk up the stairs leading to the dormitories, the words left Harry’s lips before he could stop himself, “Why help me?”

 

The twins stared at him with slightly confused expressions on their face. It was George who asked back, “Why shouldn’t we?”

 

“Ron seems okay just leaving me alone.” Harry commented with a nonchalant shrug. He really did not even mind that his supposed best mate had pretty much thrown him over the cliff. His feelings for Ron weren’t that strong, in the first place. He was easy to get along with and was pretty predictable. He wasn’t that observant and was also quite self-centred. It all made Harry’s acting easier. The less people bothered observing him, the less chance they would see his mask slip.

 

“We’re not our brother dear.” George countered with a fond smile.

 

“We care about you.” Fred continued, grinning at Harry.

 

Harry’s lips curved into a small frown.

 

“And we’re sure our brother dear also care.” George added with a shrug.

 

“He’s just stupid.” Fred continued with an overly exaggerated sigh, “He can be a bit selfish-“

 

“-also a bit too dense-“ George cut off with the same overly exaggerated sigh, “but we know he cares.“

 

“You’re his best mate.” Fred grinned at Harry.

 

“Yup. His best mate.” George grinned at Harry as well, “Just give him some time.”

 

“He’ll come around.” Fred continued.

 

“You probably shouldn’t.” Harry warned, trying to fight of the start of a migraine originating from the annoyance seeping from Voldemort’s side of their link. The twins tilted their head slightly to the side. Harry sighed and rubbed his forehead tiredly as he elaborated, “You probably shouldn’t care about me.”

 

“Why shouldn’t we?” Both George and Fred asked at the same time.

 

“I’m not who you think I am.” Harry explained vaguely, not really in the mood to even pretend. He just wanted to go upstairs, get on his bed and sleep.

 

He was going to have to deal with a bloody dragon, for Merlin’s sake!

 

Having a few hours of sleep seemed like the least he could have before having to think of a way to survive without being Maleficent food.

 

“You mean you’re not this weird socially awkward teenager who’s bored with everything around him…” George started.

 

“And likes pranking everyone without letting anyone know?” Fred concluded.

 

“Yes.” Harry immediately replied before shaking his head and hurriedly correcting, “I mean… no.”

 

Harry frowned lightly, mulling over the twin’s description for a moment before admitting, “Actually… that does sound like me.”

 

The twin grinned at Harry.

 

Harry smiled fondly at them but softly warned, “But that’s not all I am.”

 

“Maybe we want to know the real you.” Fred countered with a fond smile that was exactly mirrored on George’s face.

 

“You might regret it.” Harry warned them, wrapping his arms around himself.

 

“Let us be the judge to that.” George replied with Fred nodding.

 

Harry sighed and relented, “Fine. I will… think about it.”

 

Both twins grinned at Harry’s words.

 

“But no promises.” Harry added immediately.

 

“Good enough.” George and Fred shrugged before grabbing Harry and pulling him into a three-way hug that only made Harry awkward. George and Fred patted Harry’s back before saying at the same time, “Good night, Harry.”

 

Harry pulled away and nodded as he mumbled, “Good night.”

 

Harry watched as the twins ascended the stairs leading to the dormitories. He waited for a few minutes before he ascended the stairs as well. He quietly went inside his dorm room and immediately went to his bed. All the others were already sound asleep, most of them snoring in varying volume. Harry jumped on his bed, letting Voldemort wandlessly and nonverbally slide the curtains close.

 

Harry had been changing into his pyjama pants, not bothered by the lack of privacy, when he heard Voldemort asked in a slightly annoyed tone, “Are you planning to adopt more wayward puppies, my dear?”

 

Harry smiled sadly as he replied, “I’m not sure…”

 

Harry sighed tiredly as he buttoned his pyjama shirt, “The Weasley family is too deeply tied with Dumbledore. I know Arthur and Molly will definitely not side with us. Fred and George… they may be the mischievous ones but they care about their family. Between me and their family, I’m pretty sure they would pick their family.”

 

“Some relationships are deeper than blood.” Voldemort stared at Harry as he reminded him, “All hope is not lost.”

 

“Perhaps.” Harry shrugged as he commented, “If they choose me, I will accept them with open arms. If not, I won’t be surprised.”

 

Harry finally turned to stare at Voldemort as he explained, “They think Ron will come around. I know Ron will come around. He might be a bit thick at times but he’s a good person. He’s a child and children are bound to make mistakes. This is just one of them.”

 

“You are a child as well.” Voldemort reminded him, making Harry smile sardonically.

 

“Yes but I am not…” Harry debated slightly over his next word for a few seconds before finally finishing, “… normal.”

 

“You don’t have to be.” Voldemort commented, making Harry tilt his head slightly to the side in silent question. Voldemort shrugged as he said, “Being normal is dull.”

 

Harry grinned and agreed, “Yeah. Normal is boring.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Disney animation of Sleeping Beauty was released in 1959 while Mary Poppins was released in 1964.
> 
> I hope this sates a few of you guys who wanted the twins to be part of Harry’s ‘court’. I do have plans for the twins (kinda) but I’m gonna hush hush about what they are for now.
> 
> But hey, at least, Harry finally knows about the dragons XD
> 
> By the way, I uploaded a Batman-inspired Superhero Vigilante AU one-shot today as well. I swear it was not because of SvB. It was actually because of The Prestige… weirdly enough.


	18. An Eventful Breakfast

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Theodore was eating breakfast and conversing with Daphne’s circle when the newspaper came

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the late update. Work has been hectic. Hopefully it will slow down next week.  
> ………………………. Hopefully…
> 
> Warning:  
> 1 unbeta'ed as usual  
> 2 starts of Theo’s POV because you guys… will want to know what happens when all hell breaks lose  
> 3 pretty sure I couldn’t copy Rita’s way of writing well, sorry TTATT

Breakfast in the Great Halls had started as boring as it usually was. Theodore kept quiet during the start of breakfast but did spend a certain amount of time talking to Daphne about nothing of importance. The fact that he was holding a conversation with Daphne instead of just grunting or ignoring her already spoke much of the sudden shift of the power balance in their year. Just by talking to her, every snake had realized that he was now supporting Daphne Greengrass. Malfoy actually looked betrayed by Theodore’s actions. He supposed it made sense. He and the Malfoy heir had been… close acquaintances. He would say they were friends but Slytherins did not have friends. They had allies and minions, never friends. As far as Theodore was concern, Daphne and Zabini were his allies and he was theirs.

 

So Theodore politely talked to them. Zabini tried to bait him and he politely told him to shove off.

 

Daphne had simply looked amused at the two of them.

 

The rest of Daphne’s supporters tried to talk to Theodore during the middle of breakfast when Theodore had begun poking his mashed potato in complete boredom. He knew that he was becoming a sort of outcast in the Slytherin hierarchy due to his ‘relationship’ with Harry Potter but, by showing support to Daphne, Theodore has now become part of Daphne’s ‘circle’, so to speak. Due to this, the three Slytherin girls supporting Daphne tried conversing with him. Tracey Davis even had the galls to say that she liked Theodore more because he was a gentleman, not like Zabini who she called ‘the creepy cousin you always try to avoid during family reunions’. That comment actually made Theodore snort. Since pure-bloods tend to marry other pure-bloods, it won’t really be a surprised if Zabini was really someone’s ‘creepy cousin’. Zabini only took it in stride and pretended to be hurt in an overly dramatic manner.

 

Their circle had begun a casual debate over the best time to have a gala with Tracey passionately supporting Yule while Zabini was debating for Ostara. Theodore had taken Zabini’s side since he had always enjoyed the smaller Ostara parties. Whenever someone talks about Yule parties, the first thing that Theodore would always think about was the famous Malfoy Yule ball which was both too grand and too big for Theodore’s taste. It was when Theodore had been the one debating with Tracey while Zabini just watched them in amusement that the owls began flying in.

 

The thing about the Daily Prophet newspaper was that every subscription was sent at the same time. The used of a very specific timed spell would release all owls carrying the newspaper at the same time. This meant that it was normal for thousands of owls to leave the Daily Prophet owlery every day and it was also normal for all the Daily Prophet owls to join the personal owls in invading the middle of breakfast in Hogwarts.

 

Newspapers were dropped unceremoniously on the table, charmed with a liquid, fire and other common paper damaging material repellent charms. Most Slytherins would get a copy of the Daily Prophet as well as the Ravenclaws. The one with least subscriptions were the lions who would usually huddle together to read one instead of just doing the more sensible thing and get their own subscription. Theodore’s copy of the Daily Prophet dropped on his poor mashed potato. It made a splattering sound that Theodore took as a sign that he was done eating breakfast. Right in front of him, Zabini managed to grab Daphne’s copy of the Daily Prophet in mid drop, saving Daphne’s cup of tea, in exchange of sacrificing his own omelette to the same fate as Theodore’s mashed potato.

 

The first sound to come from the snake’s table was the audible gasp of Pansy Parkinson, followed by the loud whispering coming from the eagle’s table. The rest of the Slytherins who mostly thought it was more pressing to finish their breakfast than read the news finally looked at their own copy after hearing one loud Gryffindor shout, “Harry’s in the Daily Prophet!!!”

 

Instead of reading more amusing stories at the expense of the Boy-Who-Lived, the entire Slytherin table turned deadly pale and silent as they read the front cover of today’s Daily Prophet.

 

_The Boy-Who-Lived meets You-Know-Who’s Secret Son_

The horrible unimaginative title was followed by:

 

_A look at the not so perfect life of two unfortunate souls_

 

Theodore wanted to gag but refrained from doing so. He quickly skimmed through the entire newspaper. The entire thing was filled with stories about his Little Lord and his Lord. He returned to the front page and tried reading Rita Skeeter’s article.

 

_The weekly outings to Hogsmeade are usually for the relaxation of the students after a week of study. A day to walk the quiet streets of the magical town near their lovely school and just be the sweet innocent children they were._

_It was during this day of relaxation that the Boy-Who-Lived, Harry James Potter, was seen conversing with an older wizard by the name of Marvolo Slytherin, the son of You-Know-Who._

_Now, my dear readers, I know it might come as a shock to read such a thing. You-Know-Who has a son? Even I, your humble writer, had been surprised to hear about this dashing young man’s true heritage. How could I not be? Marvolo Slytherin had been nothing but a gentleman the entire time he was in Harry Potter’s presence._

Theodore had to admit. The magical picture of Harry and Marvolo on the front page did bring a good light to Marvolo. It was taken from Three Broomsticks Inn. They were leaning towards one another, their shoulders bumping with Marvolo smiling in obvious merit while Harry was grinning. Both of them didn’t look like they were planning world domination or anything nefarious and more like they were talking about something funny. Theodore won’t be surprised if that something funny happened to be at the expense of someone else.

 

_And he did not hide the fact that he was the son of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. The moment they met, Marvolo Slytherin had introduced who he really was to our dear Harry Potter._

Theodore had to bite his bottom lip. He was there when that supposed cat was out of the bag and it was more of his Little Lord pretty much being blunt than the supposed Dark Lord’s son being honest.

 

_Did you know what our dear Saviour said to him?_

_Instead of shunning him or even cursing him, sweet young Harry simply smiled and introduced himself._

By this time, Theodore was almost trying very hard not to comment out loud.

 

_Harry and Marvolo spent the entire day together, getting to know one another. What could they talk about, you might ask. Well, my dear readers, I am here to report the truth and the truth itself is so astonishing that this humble writer could rarely believe it!_

_It seemed that we have been fooled for so long!_

_Harry Potter confided to Marvolo Slytherin that he had been forced to participating in the Triwizard Tournament against his free will!_

_When I heard of this, I confess, I was sceptical. You might remember my previous coverage of the tournament and how Harry Potter had seemed to be thriving and enjoying this tournament, even going as far as bending the rules to be able to participate._

_Oh, my dear readers, I have been so wrong!_

_It seemed that dear Harry Potter had been forced into participating after some unknown person had the audacity of putting his name in the cup without Mister Potter’s knowledge. This young innocent fourteen_

At least, the damn reporter finally got Little Lord’s age right.

 

_boy was now forced to participate in this dreadful tournament and everyone assume that he had done it himself. Can you imagine just how that would make him feel? Knowing he did nothing wrong yet we all assume he was at the wrong?_

_My dear readers, I must confess. My heart broke when I heard Mister Potter talk to Mister Slytherin about his current predicament and how he believes, and I quote, “They already antagonize me and I supposedly saved them when I was a baby.”_

_Who do we blame for such cruel words leaving the Boy-Who-Lived but ourselves for not trusting him and simply injecting our own ideas to this poor misunderstood_

Theodore couldn’t read anymore. He quickly skimmed through the rest of the story as it continued to make Little Lord look like a cute abused puppy which has been kicked so many times while painting a mysterious air towards his Lord. The article barely even talked about how Marvolo was now Harry’s coach, instead focusing on how quickly Harry and Marvolo ‘bonded’ over Magical Britain’s treatment over them. The rest of the paper was dedicated to other smaller articles concerning Harry and Marvolo. There was even a separate article about Marvolo Slytherin. Theodore quickly skimmed through that one. It was a simple informative article of Marvolo Slytherin’s background. He was a Durmstrang graduate, son of You-Know-Who and an unnamed pure-blood witch who died in childbirth, a ward of House Nott and well known as one of the best duellist in his class. They even managed to get small interviews from other Durmstrang graduates to collaborate Marvolo Slytherin’s background.

 

_“He was usually quiet, quite a loner. Can’t say I can blame him though. But honestly? He’s probably one of politest person I ever known. He didn’t mind helping the younger years too. Always had a penchant for teaching, I think.”_

_“He was quiet and I don’t think he really had any friends, you know? But he was always helpful if you asked. Never saw him turn down anyone who wanted to be tutored. Always thought he would be a professor. He certainly would have made some of our professors a run for their money.”_

_“Mister Slytherin wasn’t close to anyone but everyone knew him. It was hard not to considering his background but everyone respected his privacy. He wasn’t one for rowdy conversations or even pranking. He was a very studious person and he also had a talent for teaching. I was quite surprised to hear he had been traveling the world instead of applying for a teaching position here in Durmstrang. We would have been more than glad to have him.”_

Theodore almost choked when he read one interesting interview from Victor Krum himself.

 

_“I have not known Marvolo that long since he was years ahead of me but he was one of the people who tutored me when I had problems with the more complex subjects. He’s polite and honest but he always kept his distance. I don’t think he ever had a close friend.”_

Theodore skipped the rest of the small comments, mentally wondering how his Lord managed to get Durmstrang students, graduates and faculty members to lie for him. A quick glance around showed him that every member of Durmstrang were silently reading the paper while every Beauxbatons were whispering to one another, similar to their own eagles. Theodore lowered his head once more to read and his eyes widened when he read the article on the fourth page.

 

_Boy-Who-Lived is actually Boy-Unloved?!_

 

Theodore’s jaw slackened as he quickly skimmed the small article. It was by Rita Skeeter and she started with apologizing to the readers how small the article was and said it was because she only had a few hours to research about this tip but she believed everyone should know as soon as possible. Theodore could only read in confusion and disbelief as Rita began talking how a certain quote his Little Lord had mentioned about not understanding love made her dig a little deeper to the Boy-Who-Lived’s past.

 

_And what did I learn? Why, our dear saviour was raised by his muggle relatives who hated magic! I could not believe it myself, my dear readers, but it only took me a few minutes to talk to Harry Potter’s supposed guardian, his aunt, and she called him a freak and that he was, and, as painful as this was to write down, I quote “My family is a perfectly normal family! He’s a freak like all the rest of you and we never wanted him in the first place! We tried beating it out of him but it wouldn’t go away!”_

_My dear readers, I will do my very best to get to the bottom of this. If his aunt, the woman who shared his blood, looked at him with such disgust, just how sure are we that Dumbledore’s words to us in the past that our dear saviour was in safe loving hands was really true?_   

_I think we can all agree that we must all find out the truth of what has happened to Harry Potter. It is our duty as responsible wizards and witches._

Theodore closed the newspaper, quickly glancing around him. Draco and his circle were whispering softly at one another. Pansy looked hysterical while Draco was hissing in anger. His own circle was whispering softly to one another as well and Zabini looked like he was trying to calm them down while Daphne continued to read in silence. Over at the Gryffindor table, the mudblood was reading the paper with the same intensity as Daphne. The youngest Weasley boy was loudly talking to the rest of his Gryffindor year-mates about how Rita Skeeter was a liar and should not be taken seriously. The Weasley girl was staring intently at the front page with wide eyes and shaking hands. She looked ready to hyperventilate or faint. Theodore turned his attention towards the teacher’s table who were whispering among themselves. McGonagall looked worried while Snape looked so pale Theodore actually thought he might already be dead. Even Dumbledore looked surprised; staring at the front page with a look that seemed both like he was seeing a ghost and a strange unknown creature that only Luna Lovegood would probably know. McGonagall kept trying to catch his attention, her paper folded to the article about Marvolo Slytherin. Theodore didn’t know what she was worried about but she kept pointing at what Theodore assumed to be Marvolo Slytherin’s portrait from Durmstrang.

 

Dumbledore’s brows furrowed and he got up, whispering to McGonagall for a few seconds before turning to look at Moody. Moody immediately nodded and got up, leaving the Great Hall through the side door near the teacher’s table, while Dumbledore turned his stare towards Snape. It took a moment before Snape met his eyes and Dumbledore nodded before leaving through the same side door. McGonagall immediately followed him. Snape waited for a few minutes before standing up and walking towards the door. Theodore continued to discreetly watch the rest of the teachers as they read the paper with varying degrees of surprise and disbelief. Theodore’s observation came to a halt when Daphne closed her copy and got up. Everyone in the snake’s table turned to look at her as she walked towards the lion’s table with a blank pure-blood mask hiding the dignity of a pure-blood witch out for blood.

 

Daphne stopped right in front of Hermione and showed her copy of the prophet as she asked, “Is this true?”

 

Hermione looked too surprised to answer her which prompted Ron answer for her in righteous fury, “Of course not! Skeeter always lies!”

 

Daphne turned to glare at Ron as she asked, “So Harry Potter was not abused by his _muggle_ relatives?”

 

Everyone’s eyes now turned towards the Gryffindor’s table, staring intently at the three. Ron seemed lost at words, opening his mouth but not uttering a single sound. Hermione gripped her own copy of the newspaper as she whispered, “We-we didn’t know it was this serious. He-he-he never told us they bea-beat him…”

 

Daphne turned to glare at her as she asked, “Do you really think a person who has spent his entire life being beaten would tell people about it?”

 

Ron looked frustrated and angry as he shouted, “He should have told us! We’re his friends!”

 

“ _Friends_?” Daphne hissed the word, turning to glare at Ron as she hissed, “You’ve been friends with him for four years and you never saw the signs? You never noticed how different he is? I’ve only known Harry personally for a week and I could see how he would keep his distance from everyone and how he seemed to pull away from physical contact. Just how blind are you that you could not see him for who he really is? Are you all so self-centred that you cannot see what was right in front of you the whole time?”

 

At those words, Hermione began crying, covering her face as she sobbed. Ron looked at the table as he stuttered weakly, his own eyes glistening, “I-I… I never… He never…”

 

Daphne glared at her Gryffindor year-mates as she hissed, “And you call yourselves the defender of good and justice.”

 

With that horrible damage done in the face of the entire Hogwarts populace, Daphne walked out of the Great Hall. Zabini immediately went after her, followed closely by the three girls. Tracey grabbed Theodore on her way, dragging him out of the Great Hall and missing how tears fell from the youngest Weasley as she whispered, “Tom…”

 

The three girls and Theodore managed to catch up to Zabini. Together, they managed to catch up to Daphne who looked like she was walking towards the Gryffindor tower. Zabini began walking next to her while the rest walked behind them. Theodore was fine walking behind them since he didn’t really care if he looked like he was follower instead of a leader like Daphne or an advisor like Zabini.

 

“Impressive acting, my dear.” Zabini complemented playfully as he kept a straight face.

 

“Did you see how easily they crumpled?” Daphne whispered giddily while keeping her face expressionless, “That was so fun.”

 

“Little Lord would approve.” Theodore commented, making Daphne turn around and smile happily at Theodore.

 

“Will he really?” Daphne asked, taking a step towards Theodore. Theodore instinctively took a step back, “Was my actions correct? I mean, I wasn’t sure if Rita Skeeter’s articles were part of their plan but I-“

 

“Oh? It’s out already?” A bored voice asked, making Daphne turn around.

 

Zabini bowed slightly while Daphne curtsied slightly as they greeted, “My Lord.”

 

In contrast, Theodore only smiled and nodded as he greeted, “Good morning, Little Lord.”

 

Harry nodded back at Theodore and greeted back casually, “’Morning, Theo.”

 

Harry turned to look at the two leading Slytherins and reminded them, “I told you not to do that.”

 

Harry raised an eyebrow as he saw the three girls behind the two Slytherins. A pleasant smile appeared on Daphne’s face as she informed him, “They are my comrades, My Lord, and I believe you would find them to your approval.”

 

Harry’s lips curved into a small amused smirk as he said, “We’ll see about that. Have they been briefed?”

 

“Only that I and Blaise have sworn our loyalty to you, My Lord.” Daphne immediately replied, walking next to Harry while Harry made his way towards another corridor. Zabini fell behind Daphne while Theodore took Harry’s other side. The three girls silently followed the four as Daphne asked politely, “May I ask a personal question, My Lord?”

 

Harry shrugged as he nonchalantly permitted, “Sure, go ahead.”

 

“Were you truly abused by your muggle relatives?” Everyone stopped when Harry suddenly halted. Harry turned to stare at Daphne, making the pure-blood heir stand straighter.

 

“Why are you asking that?” Harry asked with a blank expression on his face.

 

“Rita Skeeter wrote a small article implying you had been abused.” Daphne offered her copy of the newspaper to Harry, the paper already folded to show the small article she had used to attack the Gryffindors.

 

Harry took the paper from her and quickly read the small article. He snorted before drawling, “I’m surprised my dear aunt even bothered answering the door.”

 

Daphne remained calm as she asked, “So it is true?”

 

Harry returned the paper to Daphne and began walking once more, making the rest of the Slytherins follow him. Harry began ascending the stairs to the owlery as he replied in a disinterested tone, “Yes, they did try to beat the freakiness out of me. They still do sometimes but it’s mostly my cousin and his gang who tries. It’s mostly just my uncle slamming me into walls or into my room now.”

 

Everyone was surprised by that admission and was even more surprised when Harry continued in the same uninterested tone, “They also treat me like their personal house-elf. I’m sure Rita would find that out soon enough.”

 

Harry hummed as he commented in an absent manner, “My uncle’s probably going to beat me once he learned about that. Maybe do his usual ‘lock-me-in-my-room-without-food-for-days’ routine. He’s not really creative.”

 

Harry entered the owlery and smiled when he noticed someone already inside the owlery so he greeted, “Good morning, my dear.”

 

Luna smiled dreamily at him as she curtsied, “A pleasant morning to you, My Lord.”

 

Harry walked towards Luna, his smile brightening when he saw Hedwig was already perched on Luna’s shoulder. Harry rubbed Hedwig’s neck as he cooed, “Hello, my girl. I see you’ve met my new puppy.”

 

Hedwig preened against his rubbing. Harry continued showering Hedwig with affection as he asked, “Did the Nargles also tell you to go here?”

 

“Oh yes. They were whispering so many things to me this morning.” Luna turned towards the Slytherins by the door for a moment before turning to Harry and congratulating him, “Congratulations on your new knights, My Lord.”

 

Harry grinned at Luna as he joked, “I might have to owl-order green ribbons soon.”

 

Luna’s smile turned more playful as she suggested, “And perhaps a cute uniform to go with it?”

 

Harry snickered as he whispered conspiratorially, “Maybe I’ll get robes more dreadful than Dumbledore’s.”

 

Luna giggled and whispered back, “Lord Slytherin will not be pleased.”

 

Harry grinned as he whispered, “He already is.”

 

Harry tied the letter he had been hiding to Hedwig’s leg before whispering, “Get this to Theonel Nott as fast as you can, okay, girl?”

 

Hedwig hooted energetically at him, happy to finally have something to deliver. Harry chuckled and petted Hedwig one last time before taking a step back. Hedwig flapped her wings twice before hovering off Luna’s shoulder. Hedwig hooted at Harry once more then flew out of the window. Both Harry and Luna stared at the window Hedwig had chosen to fly out of as Harry asked, “How did everyone take the news?”

 

“The Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs were in an uproar.” Daphne informed him calmly, “The Ravenclaws were more subdued but even they had fallen prey to whispering too loudly. Slytherins were also in an uproar but we kept it to a bare minimum.”

 

“Except Malfoy and his circle.” Zabini added with amusement.

 

Millicent giggled before adding gleefully, “Pansy was hysterical.”

 

Harry turned to raise an eyebrow at Millicent. Zabini smiled sweetly as he explained, “Forgive her, My Lord. Millicent and Pansy have never seen eye-to-eye before.”

 

Millicent sneered, “She thinks she’s above us because she’s a Parkinson.”

 

“Well you better learn to try and get along with her since we’re planning on taking her to Daphne’s side.” Harry casually ordered with a smile before asking Zabini, “Isn’t that right, my dear Cassanova?”

 

Zabini bowed as he replied with a predatory smirk, “My Lord’s command is absolute.”

 

Millicent actually had the decency to blush in embarrassment. She stared at the floor as she mumbled, “I shall do my best, M-My Lord.”

 

Harry waved her off as he said, “Don’t worry about it. I’m not a real fan of having underlings anyway. As far as I’m concern, you three are Daphne’s lackeys-“

 

“Allies, My Lord.” Daphne corrected with a pleasant smile.

 

Harry grinned as he said, “Right, Allies. I stand corrected.”

 

Harry cleared his throat before saying, “As much as I enjoy talking to all of you, isn’t it about time you all scurry towards your first class?”

 

Tracey gasped and she shouted, “Merlin, I almost forgot! We have potions first!”

 

Harry grinned as he said, “You guys should get going before Snape swoops in and bathe in your blood.”

 

“Will you not be joining?” Daphne asked, making Harry shake his head with a smile.

 

“Nah. I’m going to skivvy the entire day.” Harry’s smile turned to a grin as he informed them, “If anyone ask, just say I’m hiding from everyone because of the newspaper.”

 

“As you wish, My Lord.” Daphne bowed.

 

Harry patted Luna’s head and ordered softly, “Go with Daphne and the others for now, my dear.”

 

“Will you be joining us for lunch?” Luna asked yet Harry could see in her pretty blue eyes she already knew the answer to her question.

 

“Perhaps. We will have to see.” Harry grinned and patted Luna’s cheek as he added, “Give his dear eagle my love if I don’t, okay?”

 

Luna giggled and nodded, “I shall endeavour to do so, My Lord.”

 

Luna happily skipped towards the Slytherins and stopped next to Theodore. She linked their arms and smiled at Theodore who smiled politely back. Theodore turned towards Harry and finally informed him, “I have tried observing everyone’s reactions. I could make it a pensieve memory so you may view it.”

 

Harry grinned at Theodore as he commented, “You know me too well, Theo.”

 

“It is my duty as your knight to ensure your happiness, Little Lord.” Theodore replied with a bow, making Harry chuckle.

 

“I’m looking forward to watching it later.” Harry said with a big grin on his face.

 

When she noticed Theodore didn’t say anything back, Daphne stated, “Then we shall be off, My Lord. Please excuse us.”

 

Harry waved his hand in a dismissing manner. The boys bowed while the girls curtsied. They started leaving the owlery but stopped when Harry said, “I would love to talk to your circle more, Daphne. Perhaps while drinking tea and eating Treacle Tarts…”

 

Daphne smiled at him and replied, “I will plan it as soon as possible, My Lord.”

 

Harry smirked at her but no longer said anything. Zabini was the first to leave, followed immediately by Tracey and Millicent. Before the third girl left, Harry called out, “Hey, quiet one.”

 

The young girl with shoulder length auburn hair and dark brown eyes stopped and turned towards Harry, amusing Harry for knowing immediately he meant her. Everyone else stared at her. Harry tilted his head as he admitted without a hint of embarrassment or shame, “I forgot your name.”

 

The girl looked at the floor as she informed him shyly, “My name is Lily Moon, My Lord.”

 

“Lily.” Harry tested the name on his lips, humming for a moment. Harry shrugged and gave the meek girl his Tom Riddle smile as he greeted, “It’s nice to meet you, Lily.”

 

Lily’s cheeks reddened and she stuttered, “T-t-the pleasure is all mine, My Lord.”

 

“You don’t mind if I call you Lils, do you?” Harry’s lips turned a bit softer as he said, “It’s kinda hard for me to call you by the same name my late mother had.”

 

Lils’ eyes widened more a moment before she hastily replied, “It’s no problem at all, My Lord! I-in fact, I li-like the name!”

 

It always amused Harry how easy it was to get what he wants if he played the ‘Dead Parents’ card.

 

“Thank you for understanding.” Harry said with the same Tom Riddle smile, making the poor girl look incredible red.

 

Feeling sorry for the girl, Daphne linked her arms around Lils’ own and reminded her, “Come along now, Lils. We’ll be late for class.”

 

“Ye-yes. O-of course.” Lils nodded in embarrassment, letting Daphne drag her away from that sinful smile.

 

Theodore shook his head in amusement and led Luna out as well, leaving Harry alone in the owlery. Harry continued to stare at the door leading to the staircase out of the owlery as he hissed, “ << Well, it seems your plan is working. >> ”

 

“ << Yes. >> “ Harry was amused to hear how the ‘s’ sound get dragged into a hissing sound as Voldemort continued, “ << But this is only the beginning. I hope you are ready for more acting later, my dear. >> “

 

Harry raised an eyebrow as he asked, “ << What are you planning now? >> “

 

“ << I promise we will spend more time finding a way for you to deal with your first task but I will have a surprise for you later. >> “ Voldemort’s disembodied voice sounded too amused and smug for comfort, “ << But I shall keep it a secret for now. You need to be honestly surprised for it to work. >> “

 

Harry snorted as he commented, “ << I highly doubt you can surprise me more than I have already been today. >> “

 

Voldemort’s laughter held a hissing tone to it and Harry wondered if Voldemort sounding more ‘snakey’ than usual was a sign that he was having fun. Harry shivered when he felt Voldemort’s breath right by his ear as the invisible man whispered, “ << I shall take that as a challenge, my dear fiancé. >> “

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kudos to itachisgurl193 for mentioning Lily Moon. Since the girl’s still unnamed officially, I’ll be using Lily Moon (a canon year-mate of Harry whose House is unknown) instead. 
> 
> I know a lot of you guys have been waiting for this. I do hope Dumbledore’s reaction wasn’t a disappointment. Honestly, that’s how I think canon!Dumbledore would react to suddenly reading all the articles. 
> 
> If it’s not enough, please do remember that they’re most probably having a secret meeting… with ‘Moody’ present. XD


	19. 1st Task Planning

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marvolo and Harry hang out in a café. Kinda...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a warning, something came up and I need to go to our province later this week so I might not be able to update next week. MIGHT. There still exist a possibility but I'm not going to promise anything. Sorry.
> 
> Warning:  
> 1 unbeta'ed as usual  
> 2 Voldemort is back to being Marvolo in the narration again… for a bit  
> 3 More non-canon magic theory stuff
> 
> PS: I just found out this person:  
> https://www.quotev.com/vertxgo  
> is uploading all of Harry Potter fics. Let's be clear. I'm cool if you wanna translate my works as long as:  
> 1\. You credit me as the writer and add the AO3 link. Not make it your own (dude, that's not cool.)  
> 2\. You tell me if you wanna translate it so I can paste the link of your translation here.  
> But reposting and making it your own? Dude. Not cool. Please don't.  
> I mean, I can't believe I have to write this. I had assumed people to be mature enough not to do something like that but, apparently, I do have to. I am now giving you my forced "god-I-am-so-sick-of-humanity" smile. Congratulations.  
> Since you've reposted all my works, I'm gonna post this in my notes so everyone who reads it here sees it because I'm petty like that. XD  
> I have actually become good enough to get reposted without permission. Yay. Stop it.  
> Write your own story. Who knows, you might be a better writer than me.

Theonel’s reply came half an hour later and it was mildly surprising to see the familiar neat handwriting of Tom Riddle with the simple line of _“Meeting place, 10 am”_.

Before Harry could react, Voldemort had covered him with his Invisibility Cloak and both of them traversed the halls of Hogwarts, managing to not run into any professors or Flitch since class was still on-going.

 

They only had half an hour till 10 to get out of Hogwarts and they managed to reach the Whomping Willow without any real problems. They remained in comfortable silence the entire way to the Shrieking Shack where Voldemort took off the Invisibility Cloak on Harry.  Harry turned to where Voldemort had been standing as Voldemort’s disembodied voice ordered, “Stay here and wait for me.”

 

“Don’t you mean Marvolo?” Harry asked with a grin. His grin faltered when Voldemort did not reply and he felt Voldemort’s eyes on him.

 

It took a few seconds before Voldemort finally answered, “Yes. Wait for Marvolo.”

 

Harry heard the soft sounds of Voldemort’s footsteps, emitting creaks at some of the more dubious wood on the floor. Harry remained quiet, letting the slow disappearance of his magical core guide him to the distance between him and Voldemort. Harry leaned against the wall, not even bothered by the way the shack creaked against his weight. He closed his eyes and began to hum the same tune Luna always hummed. He wasn’t sure how long he was waiting but his hum slowly turned to a song with words he didn’t understand. There were some words which sounded like English, French and other languages Harry was unfamiliar with. It almost sounded like the entire song was composed of different languages meshed together.

 

He could feel his magic begin to slowly leave his core but he had been too immersed with the song that he didn’t stop. It felt as if he was actually pulling something closer to him and he had a strong feeling that it wasn’t Voldemort.

 

It was only when his magic finally returned to its original state did he stopped, opening his eyes. He turned to look at the door and saw Marvolo leaning against the doorway, staring at him with a thoughtful look on his face. They stared at each other for a few seconds before Marvolo finally said, “I apologize for intruding.”

 

Harry shrugged as he replied, “If you didn’t, I’d probably repeat the same song over and over again until I lose my voice.”

 

“I’ve never heard such a language before.” Marvolo admitted, walking towards Harry. Marvolo stopped right in front of Harry and observed the boy with obvious interest as he commented, “Some of the words I recognized as French, Scottish Gaelic and Italian. Perhaps even Portuguese, Japanese and Spanish but I can’t be quite sure.”

 

Harry raised an eyebrow as he asked, “You recognized that much?”

 

Marvolo shrugged as he commented, “Traveling the world exposed me to many languages.”

 

Marvolo paused for a moment as he lowered his head. Harry blinked when Marvolo kept his eyes glued to the floor and lowered his head to look at whatever suddenly got Marvolo’s reaction. Harry blinked when he saw a piece of wood between them had a bud growing out of it. It looked so out of place with its vibrant green colour and Harry was sure it wasn’t there before but Harry didn’t have time to wonder where such a thing could have come from because Marvolo suddenly continued, “I will not say I am fluent at all of them but I can handle conversation quite well without the help of a translation charm.”

 

Harry raised his head to stare at Marvolo, seeing the man was now staring at him once more. He smirked as he commented playfully, “Sounds like a prodigy to me.”

 

Marvolo’s own smirk was too smug to be an act. Harry chuckled lightly before taking a step forward. The shack creaked once more and Harry shuddered as he suggested, “Let’s go outside.”

 

Marvolo took a step to the side and bowed lightly as he said, “After you.”

 

Harry grinned at the gentleman action and replied as he walked past Marvolo, “Why thank you.”

 

Marvolo followed Harry out of the shack as he asked, “May I ask where you have learned such a song?”

 

Harry shrugged, shivering slightly when they got out of the shack and into the cold breeze of Hogsmeade. Marvolo removed his dark reddish brown outer robes and placed it on Harry’s shoulders, making Harry sigh as the warming charm battled the harsh breeze around them. He turned to look at Marvolo, smiling slightly when he saw that the man didn’t even seem to notice the cold. He most probably already casted another warming charm around him. Harry continued to stare at him as he finally replied, “I don’t know. I didn’t even know I knew the lyrics to that song before I began singing it.”

 

Marvolo stared at him silently for a few moments and Harry knew that it wasn’t Marvolo anymore. Voldemort was staring at him and he didn’t know what was going on in the older wizard’s mind right now.

 

A few weeks ago, that fact would have made Harry wary. Right now, it simply made him curious.

 

He wanted to know what Voldemort was thinking.

 

How strange…

 

“I simply think it’s curious that you would remember a song with such interesting lyrics.” Marvolo suddenly explained and Harry knew that the man was actually answering his internal musing.

 

Harry took a step forward and asked, “Why would it be such a curious thing?”

 

Marvolo smiled slightly as he replied, “I admit, I think I find most things about you quite curious.”

 

“You do?” Harry asked, tilting his head slightly.

 

“Yes.” Marvolo nodded, taking a step forward towards him, their faces just a few inches away as he explained, “You are a very fascinating person. Your mind works so different from others and I find myself feeling… relaxed in your presence.”

 

“Why do I get the feeling that you don’t normally feel relax around people?” Harry whispered, staring at Marvolo’s eyes and finding that he was missing those familiar red eyes.

 

“Do you?” Marvolo asked back, making Harry’s lips curved into a sardonic smile.

 

“I never did feel relaxed enough with other people.” Harry admitted, “I always wonder when the ball is going to drop.”

 

Harry slowly grazed his fingers against Marvolo’s own as he mused out loud, “What makes you so different? Why do I always feel so relaxed around you?”

 

Marvolo’s head lowered slowly, obliterating the gap between their lips in such a slow pace it was almost torture. Marvolo stopped just an inch from Harry’s lips, making Harry shiver as he whispered, “This isn’t normal, is it?”

 

“No, it’s not.” Harry whispered back, biting his bottom lip. He grinded his upper teeth against his lip for a moment before he asked, “It’s strange I don’t want you to stop.”

 

Marvolo chuckled softly as he whispered with an amused tone, “You’re attracted to me.”

 

Harry finally took a step back as he retorted with the same amusement in his tone, “I can say the same to you.”

 

Marvolo smirked at him as he replied, “Yes, I am.”

 

Harry didn’t have the time to reply to that because Marvolo suddenly offered his hand as he asked, “Have you tried side-apparating before?”

 

Harry shook his head but took Marvolo’s hand as he commented with an amused tone, “I haven’t but I feel like I won’t like it as well. For some reason, magical people’s way of transportation is always so… uncomfortable to me.”

 

Marvolo chuckled and pulled Harry gently towards him. He stared at Harry’s eyes as he admitted, “A lot of people would feel queasy when apparating but they usually get used to it.”

 

“Like floo and portkeys?” Harry asked with a sarcastic grin.

 

“Yes, very much like those.” Marvolo replied before placing his free hand on Harry’s waist. Before Harry could say anything, he suddenly felt something akin to that time when he had accidently used his magic to teleport to the roof of their school to get away from Dudley and his gang.

 

The entire experience only lasted a second yet Harry’s stomach and head felt like they had been in one wild rollercoaster ride with too much loops. Harry pretty much lost his balance and the only thing keeping him from sprawling head first on the ground was Marvolo’s hands on his waist and his hand. Harry blinked a couple of times before finally becoming lucid enough to notice they were in a magical community not that very different from Diagon Alley. The entire alley was buzzing with numerous conversations in a language Harry did not understand. There were many bat and dragon decorations as well. There was even a shop with its front window filled with small moving dragons of different shapes and sizes. It took a moment before Harry realized that the miniature dragons were made of colourful fabric and not actual small dragons.

 

Harry continued to stare at the dragons and he tilted his head as he asked, “Where are we?”

 

“Romania.” Marvolo’s answer only made Harry’s eyes widen and he turned to stare at Marvolo.

 

“Romania?” Harry repeated, his voice a pitch higher than usual. Marvolo seemed to find that amusing as he began walking, dragging Harry by their entwined fingers. Harry curiously looked around the bustling foreign magical community as he asked, “You actually teleported us to Romania?”

 

Marvolo turned his head back to smirk at Harry as a reply, making Harry burst out laughing as he ran towards Marvolo. He pressed his body against Marvolo’s arm as he commented, “You are a very strange man.”

 

“Am I?” Marvolo asked with mirth dancing in his eyes as he led Harry towards one of the more secluded cafes.

 

Harry nodded as he commented, “Normal people don’t suddenly kidnap minors and take them to Romania.”

 

Marvolo chuckled and leaned towards Harry, whispering softly, “It can’t be kidnap when you’re willing.”

 

Harry’s grin grew while a woman wearing the café’s uniform approached them. Marvolo spoke in a foreign language Harry did not understand but, if he had to guess, it was most probably Romanian. The woman nodded at both of them and led them towards the back of the café. Harry looked around curiously, finding it interesting that the theme of the café were dragons of different origins.

 

The woman opened a mahogany door and stepped to the side, bowing slightly at Marvolo and Harry. Marvolo nodded once while telling the woman something before leading Harry inside.

 

Harry’s eyes widened when he noticed all four walls of the room he was ushered inside were filled with books from top to bottom.

 

Dear Merlin. If Hermione was here, she would probably have lit up like a commercial Christmas tree.

 

The door closed behind Marvolo and the older wizard wandlessly and non-verbally ended his glamour, his eerie red eyes focused on the young wizard currently walking from one bookcase to another, simply reading the title of each book. Voldemort walked towards the centre of the room where a comfortable couch and a round table were located. The carpet underneath was soft and pillows were scattered all over the carpet and couch. Voldemort grabbed the menu on the table as he asked, “Is there anything specific you would like to have for lunch?”

 

Harry finally turned to face Voldemort and his eyes widened when he saw that Voldemort had removed his glamour, making him exclaim, “You removed your glamour!”

 

Voldemort continued to stare at the menu in his hands as he explained dismissively, “This is a private room with some of the highest privacy charms around it. Not even Dumbledore would be able to eavesdrop on us.”

 

“What about…” Harry looked around as he mumbled, “… you know…”

 

Voldemort finally raised his head to stare at Harry. It took a second before Voldemort could understand what Harry meant by ‘you know’ and he replied, “Ah. Miss Skeeter was not on you or me when I apparated us. Either she’ll stay in Hogsmeade and wait for our return or she’ll be the annoying piece of garbage that she is and try to find another scope in Hogwarts.”

 

Harry hummed before skipping towards Voldemort. Instead of standing next to Voldemort, Harry jumped on the couch, chuckling when he bounced slightly which only made Voldemort roll his eyes. Harry grabbed one of the pillows and hugged it, resting his chin on the pillow as he answered Voldemort’s original question, “Whatever you want, I guess. I’ve never had Romanian food before.”

 

Voldemort hummed, returning his attention at the menu as he sat on the couch without any verbal response to Harry’s answer. Harry turned to the side so that his back was against one of the couch armrest as he watched Voldemort. Voldemort used his point finger to tap at certain locations of the menu which Harry assumed was a name in the menu. From where he was sitting, it was a bit hard to see the menu itself. It took only a minute for Voldemort to finish and he placed the menu on the table. He stood at the centre of the room and raised his hand till it was the same height as his stomach. Harry felt Voldemort’s magic envelop the entire room, shivering without his consent as the pleasant dark magic gently wrapping around him. Two seconds passed by in silence then numerous books suddenly whizzed out of their respective bookcases at a dangerous speed. They all stopped a foot away from Voldemort, floating around him as they slowly turned continuously. Voldemort turned to face Harry and pointed his outstretched hand towards the table. The books quickly stacked up on top of the table while Harry quickly got off the couch and briskly walked towards Voldemort, dodging some of the books currently on their way to the table.

 

Harry mostly did it because he wanted to be next to Voldemort, to observe the man as he did such magical feat without any signs of exhaustion and flawlessly. He had also always wanted to try dodging fast things.

 

… It was pretty fun.

 

Harry stood next to Voldemort, observing the older wizard with childlike curiosity. It was hard not to be curious about such a powerful wizard who was willing to educate him (or would gloat be a more accurate term?).

 

“Mastering spells wandlessly and non-verbally may be difficult but the payoff in doing such a thing greatly outweighs the time spent in mastering each spell.” Voldemort explained, pride blossoming in him when he felt Harry’s entire attention on him. Voldemort turned to face Harry as he explained, “While it is easy to cast spells consecutively with a wand, one still spends time doing the correct wand movement and saying the correct pronunciation of the spell. It is also possible for their opponent to dodge as well as cast a shield or a counter-spell during that time. By using wandless and non-verbal spells, one can rapidly cast spells and surprise their opponent. Those with great mastery over wandless and non-verbal spells may also be able to cast their spell while announcing a different spell to confuse their opponent.”

 

Harry titled his head as he asked, “Then why don’t I see many people do it? I mean, I only see you blatantly showing off.”

 

Dumbledore also enjoyed doing such a thing but he knew mentioning the Headmaster will only put Voldemort in a foul mood.

 

“The official reason would be that it is hard to master. Each spell must be mastered individually. Not everyone has the dedication or the talent for such a long activity.” Harry could clearly hear the sarcasm in Voldemort’s tone but remained silent as the older wizard continued, “But that is what most Ministry of Magic propagate to their mindless flock.”

 

“So what’s the real reason?” Harry asked, staring at Voldemort curiously.

 

“They propagate it to ensure their hold over each and every one of us.” Voldemort explained in an angry hiss, “By ensuring our dependency in our wand, they will be able to keep us all in line. They break the wand as punishment if we are found guilty and, without mastery over at least wandless spells, we will be easily subdued and rendered almost a squib.”

 

Harry hummed and turned to stare at the stacks of books in front of him as he commented, “So, in some way, they are oppressing the possibility of being better because they needed to ensure their hold on us?”

 

“Chaining progress in the name of order…” Voldemort sneered, “It’s pathetic.”

 

“But isn’t the alternative worse?” Harry asked, turning to stare at Voldemort, “If people learn to master wandless and nonverbal spells, it will become harder to catch and detained them when necessary.”

 

“Only if the government and their enforcers are weak.” Voldemort hissed passionately, “If the flock is strong then the shepherds must be stronger. We can only protect and defend those weaker than us. Those stronger than us will either be our greatest allies or our hardest enemies. The only way to continue to maintain a progressing flock is to always be stronger than them.”

 

“Might is right?” Harry recalled a very famous muggle saying which only made Voldemort roll his eyes.

 

“Might alone does not make one powerful. Might is a tool. What makes someone right or wrong is the law and morality of their society.” Voldemort stared at Harry’s vibrant green eyes as he continued, “I have done a lot of things that are considered wrong by the law and the morality of our community. I will not make any excuses for them. I will do everything in my capabilities to rule Magical Britain.”

 

Harry observed and listened silently as Voldemort continued, “I will admit, using force was not my first choice. I had been prepared to use my connections and work my way up but Dumbledore and his merry bands of blind ignorant supporters thwarted each and every carefully laid out plan we had. I was a fool.”

 

Voldemort turned away from Harry, glaring at the floor with furious red eyes as he admitted, “I realized that the only way to rule our community is by taking it by force. I had become bitter and driven by rage and frustration. I researched deeper into the most forbidden of the Dark Arts, exchanging my sanity and rationality with more might.”

 

Voldemort’s lips curved into a grimace and he suddenly grew silent. Harry didn’t say anything, finding the little creases in Voldemort’s mask fascinating. His intense vibrant red eyes gave his real emotions away but it was hard to spot. Harry was sure the only reason why he even saw it was because he had been focusing his attention to the older wizard for days now.

 

Voldemort shook his head as he mumbled, “Now isn’t truly the time for such thoughts.”

 

Harry hummed at that comment but did not say anything. Voldemort turned to stare at Harry as he concluded, “Gellert Grindelwald, the Dark Lord defeated by Dumbledore, was known for his mantra of ‘for the greater good’. I find that as an excuse to justify his actions.”

 

“Are you not the same?” Harry finally spoke, slightly surprising Voldemort. There was no judgment in his voice. As far as Voldemort could see, Harry was just truly curious as he commented, “Do you not see yourself as the ‘necessary evil’ to revolutionize this world?”

 

Voldemort’s lips curved into an amused smirk as he clarified, “We are all evil. The ministry is evil hiding behind its power and hold over the masses. Dumbledore is evil hiding behind the same words of ‘for the greater good’. And I am evil.”

 

Voldemort shrugged as he continued, “I just happened to not be a coward hiding behind anything.”

 

Harry grinned as he commented, “And thus you were given the villainous role.”

 

Voldemort countered with a roll of his eyes, “Every person in the entire world is the protagonist of their own story, a supporting character in some and the antagonist in the rest.”

 

“It suits you.” Harry commented with a playful grin, earning a scoff from Voldemort.

 

Instead of continuing their current conversation, Voldemort pointed at the stacks of books in front of them with his palm up as he explained, “These are all the books containing all five dragons to be used in the first task.”

 

“All five?!” Harry repeated with wide eyes.

 

“Calm down.” Voldemort ordered before explaining, “Each champion will only have to face one dragon. The dragon to be faced will be decided by the champions drawing a miniature replica of their dragon from a bag. Each dragon has their own characteristics and behaviour. They are also all fire-breathing female dragons. Our best course of action is to create a general strategy that will be effective against all five dragons so that the random factor of which dragon you will draw will be meaningless. This general strategy should be based on what you are good at.”

 

It took a moment before Harry connected the dots. He turned to stare at Voldemort as he announced, "You knew."

 

"Yes, I did." Voldemort replied, making Harry's eyes narrowed when he noticed the lack of embarrassment or guilt in Voldemort's tone.

 

Harry blinked for a moment before asking in a slightly sarcastic tone, "Where you ever planning on telling me or where you just hoping my unnatural luck would help me survive a dragon attack?"

 

Voldemort's brows furrowed as he replied, "I wanted to ensure that your knowledge of the first task will be... easily believed and tracked."

 

Harry's own brows furrowed as he retorted, "What makes you think I won't believe you if you just flat out told me?"

 

There was a second of silence between the two of them before Harry blinked and mused, "Oh. Oh! OH!"

 

Voldemort watched with amusement as Harry clicked his point finger and thumb together. Harry poked Voldemort on the arm as he mused out loud, "You don't mean me! You meant Dumbledore! You wanted to make sure that Dumbledore could track down where I would have gotten the information and believe that it was plausible that my source would help me!"

 

Harry tilted his head to the side as he asked, "But how did you make sure Forge and Gred will tell me?"

 

"I thought their names were George and Fred?" Voldemort asked back with a grimace, obviously disliking the names Harry had said.

 

Harry rolled his eyes as he explained quickly, "Yeah, it's really Fred and George but they sometimes use Forge and Gred. It's a habit I got from them."

 

Harry waved his hand dismissingly as he continued, "Anyway, spill. How did you get the twins to tell me?"

 

"I didn't." Voldemort replied, staring at Harry intently.

 

Harry tilted his head once more as he repeated, "You didn't?"

 

Voldemort nodded as he explained, "I had ordered Barty to suggest to Hagrid about showing you the dragons. That oaf is easy to manipulate and he is quite fond of the boy called 'Harry Potter'."

 

Harry nodded as he placed his hand by his chin, "And that's why Hagrid asked Ron to tell me he wants to talk to me. He was going to show me the dragons."

 

Voldemort turned to face the stacks of books in front of them as he continued, "I did not expect that the tea party between your puppies would take that much time. I also did not take into consideration our..."

 

Harry noticed the slight hesitation in Voldemort's tone as the older wizard continued, "... conversation."

 

Wanting to stay far away from that reminder at all cause, Harry shrugged as he commented, "Oh well. At least the twins hound me and I learned the dragons from them. If Dumbledore ever checked, my source will be fool-proof since it didn't even come from Barty."

 

"Yes." Voldemort's lips curved into an amused slight smile as he commented, "I suppose your annoying luck has once again saved you from future troubles."

 

Harry grinned as he asked, "Does it feel nice being in the same side of this so-called annoying luck?"

 

"Very." Voldemort drawled before suggesting, "Perhaps we can try and harness that luck in my plans to rule Magical Britain?"

 

Harry scoffed and retorted, "Sorry, love tart, I can't even control this luck of mine and..."

 

Harry's lips curved into a mischievous grin as he added, "I think you're the type of person who doesn't rely on things like luck."

 

Voldemort chuckled softly as he replied, "I will admit, I do not like leaving things to chance."

 

Harry continued to grin as he reminded Voldemort, "You never did tell me what the first task was."

 

"I was about to but you interrupted.” Voldemort defended, making Harry roll his eyes.

 

“Sorry about that.” Harry drawled, “May I please know how my life will be in danger now?”

 

“There will be a golden egg among the egg nest of each mother dragon. You will be tasked in retrieving the golden egg which the dragon will believe to be one of hers." Voldemort summarized, making Harry's eyes widened.

 

"I hope I'm wrong about this but wouldn't a mother dragon be extra dangerous when she's protecting her eggs?" Harry asked with a frown.

 

"A mother dragon protecting her eggs is most common cause of deaths of rookie Dragon tamers." Voldemort informed Harry.

 

"Sounds like a fabulous task for school children." Harry sarcastically commented, glaring at the books once more as he asked, "Okay then. I'm all for a general strategy but why does it need to be something I am good at?"

 

"The first task is tomorrow." Voldemort reminded Harry, making Harry blink dumbly at him. Voldemort raised an eyebrow as he asked, "You do remember that it is tomorrow, correct?"

 

Harry pointed at his face as he deadpanned, "You see this face? This isn't the face of 'I understand what you are saying'. This is the face of 'oh Godric, I forgot about my impending death' face."

 

Voldemort rolled his eyes as he drawled, "I will endeavour to remember that."

 

Harry grinned while Voldemort finally continued, "As you can see, we do not have time to have you study advance magic. It is also more important that you strengthen your bonds with your new dogs, as well as acquire a less negative impression from your fellow champions and schoolmates."

 

Harry turned to stare at Voldemort, silently observing the older wizard for a couple of minutes before asking, "Are you telling me to tell my fellow champions about the first task?"

 

"Yes." Voldemort replied with a nod.

 

"Do I have to?" Harry grumbled and pouted slightly as he admitted, "I was really looking forward to seeing their frightened faces when it's announced that dragons will be the first task."

 

Voldemort rolled his eyes as he retorted, "Victor Krum and Fleur Delacour most probably already knows about the dragons. Only your fellow champion, that Hufflepuff, is probably in the dark."

 

Harry raised an eyebrow as he asked, "How can you be sure?"

 

Voldemort's expression could only be described as a fusion of annoyance and resigned adoration as he asked back, "Do you honestly believe that the other schools will not do anything to gain an upper hand in this tournament and that they will leave their champion in the dark?"

 

Harry shrugged as he replied, "Dumbledore seems incline to do just that to me and Cedric."

 

"Dumbledore is an old manipulative goat who is using you to find out who placed your name in the goblet." Voldemort retorted heatedly, "He won't support either of you in this tournament, the same way he did not help you in getting out of this tournament, the same way he did not help you when I tried to steal the stone and the same way he did not help me wh-"

 

Voldemort halted in mid-sentence, breathing heavily. Harry stared at him silently as he turned away from Harry. Voldemort placed his hand by his forehead as he calmly continued, "He will be using this first task to both observe you and those around you. I'm sure he will find some way to think of this as some sort of test for you and for the greater good."

 

"Sounds like the old goat." Harry nonchalantly commented with a shrug. Harry turned to stare at the books as he asked, "So... how am I supposed to get an egg from a fire-breathing nasty dragon? You seem to already have a plan in mind…"

 

Voldemort turned to face Harry, a malicious smirk decorating his face, as he replied, "I'm sure you will enjoy what I have in mind, my dear."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don’t know where the whole “you are the protagonist of your story and the supporting character, love interest, antagonist or cameo in the others’ story” originated from. I read it over my many years of lurking around the different corners of the internet. Maybe it’s from tumblr. Maybe it’s from 9gag. Pretty sure it’s not from facebook since I never checked my facebook wall anyway. Let’s just say it’s from the internet and leave it at that. XD


	20. Ouroboros

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The end of Harry and Marvolo’s date

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay. Just a heads up, I will be going to Baler next, next week so I might not be able to update this week (due to preparation) and next, next week (due to the vacation itself) but I might find the time since I do not like going to the beach while the sun is up anyway so… not going to promise anything XD
> 
>  
> 
> Warning:  
> 1 unbeta'ed as usual  
> 2 Voldemort is back to being Marvolo in the narration again…  
> 3 This might give you the feelz?
> 
> Thank you PottersoftheFuture and Aaonnah for correcting my grammar XD

After spending the rest of the morning practicing and debating with Voldemort, the two ate a delicious and fulfilling lunch. Harry’s favourite had been the cabbage rolls and he had wondered if Dobby would be able to make that dish if he asked. Voldemort had commented that, even if he didn’t know how, the loyal house-elf would simply obsess over learning it like it was the key to saving the world. Harry had laughed and agreed with him.

 

It was these times that Harry enjoyed himself too much. When Voldemort had returned his glamour as Marvolo Slytherin, Harry actually felt disappointed but he didn’t say anything and quietly followed Marvolo out of the café. Once they were outside of the café, Marvolo offered his hand to Harry which he took, entwining their fingers. A second later, Harry was losing his balance and almost lost his lunch as well on the snowy ground of Hogsmeade. Marvolo grabbed him by his other arm, helping him maintain his balance while Harry took deep breaths and gulps. He didn’t want to throw up such a fantastic lunch.

 

That would be a waste.

 

When he felt that his lunch wouldn’t make a comeback, he turned to grimace at Marvolo as he mumbled, “Sorry. This teleport thingie makes my stomach queasy.”

 

“The proper term is Apparation.” Marvolo corrected with an amused smile, “And I shall remember never to apparate us immediately after eating next time.”

 

Harry nodded and straightened his back. He took a deep breath and smiled at Marvolo as he commented, “A walk after lunch would be good. I mean, I would have enjoyed touring Magical Romanian a bit before returning to my cage.”

 

Marvolo’s knuckles and the back of his fingers caressed Harry’s cheek gently as he promised, “I will tour you when we returned to Romania in the near future.”

 

Harry knew Voldemort was the one speaking and he meant it not as the son of the Dark Lord and the Boy-Who-Lived but the Dark Lord himself and his Consort.

 

… huh?

 

How strange.

 

When did his impending future as the Dark Lord’s consort become such a normal thing to think about?

 

"Mister Potter!" McGonagall called out loudly. Both Harry and Marvolo turned to where the voice had come from. Harry kept his expression blank as he stared at the three professors walking briskly towards them. McGonagall was leading the 'charge', a frown decorating her face. Snape was just behind her, scowling as usual, while Barty masquerading as Moody lagged behind. They all stopped in a few feet away from the two as McGonagall scolded, "Skipping classes and leaving school grounds are against the rules. A hundred points from Gryffindor and three weeks detention with Professor Snape."

 

Both Harry and Snape grimaced at the punishment.

 

"Now, come along, Mister Potter." McGonagall ordered, glancing at Marvolo but not saying anything.

 

Harry sighed and turned to face Marvolo which made Snape sneered, "Did you not hear what your Head of House just said, Mister Potter?"

 

Harry turned to smile his Tom Riddle smile, which made McGonagall freeze for a moment and amused Marvolo, at Snape as he explained, "I would just like to say goodbye, Professor. It would be _rude_ to simply walk away without saying anything."

 

Snape glared at him but kept his mouth shut, something Harry was quite grateful about. Harry turned to face Marvolo and smiled apologetically as he admitted, "I had fun."

 

Marvolo softly smiled back and Harry saw in the corner of his eyes the way McGonagall's posture grew stiffer as she stared at Marvolo. Harry kept his attention at Marvolo as the older wizard replied, "I also had fun."

 

Marvolo clasped his hands together as he continued, "Although I would have liked to do this in a more private setting."

 

Harry tilted his head curiously, watching Marvolo as he went down in one knee before he raised his closed right hand till it was the same height as Harry's chest. He opened his hand and turned it so that Harry could see his palm. A flash of blinding light erupted on top of his palm, making McGonagall take a step back while Snape took a step towards Harry. Once the flash disappeared and everyone's vision returned to normal, Harry stared in amusement at the silver bracelet currently in Marvolo's palm. The three professors also stared at the bracelet.

 

Marvolo observed Harry as he leaned forward, tilting side to side in an attempt to observe the bracelet without touching it. Marvolo's lips curved to a slightly amused smile as he explained, "This is a Slytherin heirloom. It's not as prominent as the Slytherin Locket but the engraving-"

 

Marvolo grabbed the bracelet with his other hand and showed it to Harry vertically as he continued, "As you can see, is a snake eating its own tail."

 

Harry nodded as he stared at the engraving of the snake's head. Two small green gems were used for the snake's eyes and they glimmered against the sunlight. Harry leaned forward as Marvolo explained, "They call this the Ouroboros bracelet. They say it represented the eternity Salazar Slytherin promised his consort."

 

Harry froze at those words. Harry lowered his head to stare at Marvolo, keeping his face frozen to a curious naive look while he desperately kept his memories tucked deeply inside. Harry knew the older wizard saw glimpses of his memories, of the promise of eternity a diary gave him, because Marvolo's left eye twitched. Marvolo’s other hand grabbed one of Harry’s hand, his grip almost bruising yet it felt comfortable for Harry. It felt… real.

 

“I wish to court you, Harry Potter.” Marvolo announced, making both McGonagall and Snape freeze.

 

Wait.

 

What?!

 

 “Excuse me?” Harry couldn’t help but squeak his words out.

 

 “I know this may seem too fast but…” Marvolo stared intently at Harry as he entwined their fingers, “This connection we have… I have never felt such a thing before. You are special, Harry, and that is not because of your name or your fame. The more I know you, the more I find myself…”

 

Marvolo hesitated and Harry could see the hidden confusion in Marv- no, in Voldemort’s eyes. Harry tightened his grip on his hand, making the older wizard close his mouth as Harry admitted, “I feel the same way. This connection… this strange feeling that seems to come out of nowhere… I have never felt it before.”

 

Harry placed his free hand on the man’s cheek as he whispered, “And I wish to know more about you. I wish to…”

 

Harry tightened his grip on his hand tightened as the older man was suddenly replaced by a sixteen years old boy wearing Slytherin robes as he whispered so low it was almost inaudible, “I want to be with you.”

 

Harry blinked, his vision returning to show the handsome man known as Marvolo Slytherin. His face was blank yet Harry could feel those dark brown eyes piercing right through him.

 

Once more, his memories had betrayed him.

 

Harry’s lips curved into a shy smile as he covered the hand holding the bracelet before whispering, “I accept, Marvolo Slytherin.”

 

McGonagall gasped and Snape’s eyes widened as the hands covering the bracelet glowed for a moment. The glow disappeared after a second and Marvolo’s lips erupted into a cheerful grin. Harry’s lips curved into a grin as well as Marvolo hurriedly stood. He let go of Harry’s hand and took the bracelet with both hands. Harry offered his left hand towards Marvolo. All of them watched as Marvolo slid the bracelet on Harry’s wrist. Harry’s eyes lowered towards the bracelet when he felt it tightened. The snake head began eating more of its tail until the diameter of the entire bracelet was only one inch away from touching his wrist. Marvolo caressed the bracelet once, his touch lingering on Harry’s wrist. Marvolo gently grabbed Harry’s hand and lifted it towards his lips. He continued to stare at Harry as he kissed the back of his lips. Harry’s cheeks reddened at the contact while Marvolo’s lips curved into an amused smirk as he whispered, “I shall see you next week then, Harry.”

 

“That will not be possible-“ McGonagall started.

 

“I’m afraid Mister Slytherin has the right to.” Snape cut her words off, grimacing at the pair as he informed everyone, “Mister Slytherin and Mister Potter invoked a contract magic of courtship. Magic has deemed the contract official and it is now required that both Mister Slytherin and Mister Potter meet every seven days or earlier as how traditional courtship practices.”

 

McGonagall turned to stare at Snape while the dour potion professor continued, “Failure to uphold the magical contract will prove disastrous to everyone involved. That includes the three of us since the contract magic has deemed us most probably as witnesses.”

 

“Failure to comply can lead to losing our magic or death.” Barty, as Moody, added, “Potter and this man needs to complete their courtship.”

 

McGonagall opened her mouth, most probably to argue, when Marvolo cut her off, smiling gently at Harry as he said, “Then I shall see you next week, Harry.”

 

Harry almost laughed. He had planned this. He had planned on doing this in front of so many witnesses in the first place. Harry’s cheeks reddened when Marvolo kissed him on the cheek before whispering, “You will do fine in the first task. I believe in you.”

 

Marvolo nodded at the three professors before apparating out of Hogsmeade. Harry sucked a deep breath as he felt his magic suddenly returned to his core like it had been vacuumed without any warning. Harry turned to stare at the three professors, wrapping his arms around the robes he remembered he never returned to Marvolo. Snape glared at him but he kept his eyes towards McGonagall instead. McGonagall frowned at him as she reminded him, “Professor Dumbledore will not be happy with your actions, Mister Potter.”

 

“Professor Dumbledore has not shown any reactions, positive or negative, towards any of my actions since my name came out of the goblet.” Harry retorted with narrowed eyes, “Forgive me for not crying a river over his future reaction.”

 

“Fifty points from Gryffindor for your cheek.” McGonagall announced which only made Harry want to roll his eyes but he refrained from doing so. McGonagall turned towards Snape as she ordered, “Please take Mister Potter back to Hogwarts. Professor Moody and I have more pressing business to attend to.”

 

Snape and Harry grimaced at the idea of spending more time together but Snape forced himself to nod. He glared at Harry as he ordered, “Come along now, Mister Potter. It’s time to return.”

 

Harry hummed and followed Snape back to the castle, leaving McGonagall to talk to his defence professor in whispers. It was when Harry and Snape were nearing the gates of Hogwarts at the dour professor finally turned to glare at Harry as he hissed, “Are you insane?!”

 

Harry took a step back but remained quiet, observing the seething older wizard as he hissed, “Accepting a courtship from an obvious Dark wizard?! Do you have a death wish?!”

 

Harry shook his head as he replied in a deadpan tone, “Of course not. I’ve already sacrificed so much just to stay alive. Why in Merlin’s name would I throw it all away?”

 

Those words froze Snape dead on his track. Realizing the implication of his words, Harry added, “Don’t misunderstand me, professor. Everyone sacrifices something to remain alive. I just happened to sacrifice more than most people.”

 

“What do you mean by that? What sacrifices did you have to make?” Snape’s tone was soft and almost out of breath.

 

Harry tilted his head as he stared at Snape, keeping his eyes on Snape’s forehead instead of the man’s eyes as Voldemort had instructed, “Why do you care, Professor?”

 

Harry’s brows furrowed as he asked, “You hate me, don’t you?”

 

“I-“

 

“Please don’t bother giving excuses. I knew that you hated me my first day in your class. I never understood why and I never cared knowing why because I’m used to it.” Harry nonchalantly explained, shrugging as he added, “You are just like the rest of my life in the muggle world. Everyone hates me and I’ve given up wondering why. It’s just so much easier to accept the hatred than find the reason why and amend relationships which never existed in the first place.”

 

“Then it is true? You lived with Petunia?” Snape asked in a whisper. Harry could detect a foreign emotion in his professor’s voice that he never heard before yet it didn’t interest him. He wasn’t even interested in knowing why Snape called his aunt by her first name. It just seemed like a waste of time trying to understand someone hell-bent on hating him.

 

“Does it matter to you?” Harry asked back instead, slowly feeling his magic seeping out of his core, yet he kept his mind away from anything concerning Voldemort as he continued, “Why bother asking such questions to a person you hate?”

 

Harry shook his head lightly as he commented, “You seem completely sure about your hatred for me. There is no need to pretend to care when we both know you don’t.”

 

“So what if I accepted a courtship from Marvolo? He’s kind to me, he cares about me and he wants to know me as myself, as Harry, not as the Boy-Who-Lived, not as Harry Potter.” Harry took a step forward, finally staring at Snape’s eyes as he kept his mind focused on all the interactions he had with the potion professor, and he informed in a detached tone, “You don’t have any reasons to question my decisions or berate me about them when they are not connected to my studies here in Hogwarts. Why would I care what you think? You made it perfectly clear that everything I do is wrong. Everything I say is wrong.”

 

Harry’s lips curved into an empty smile as he whispered, “Please keep your opinions to yourself, professor. I find listening to the opinions of people who hate me a waste of time.”

 

Without letting the older wizard say anything back, Harry walked passed him, keeping his face blank.

 

Hopefully, Rita had managed to hear their conversation. It would make a juicy article and it would paint one of his most prominent bullies here in Hogwarts in a bad light.

 

Harry was looking forward to that.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I actually researched about Ouroboros because of the fighting game Blazblue XD
> 
> This isn’t the end of Snape’s torment. I honestly love the man (and the actor) but the things he did to Harry during all those years? He kinda deserves some bitchslaps. Sorry XD


	21. The Day Before Maleficent - Daytime

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> How the rest of Harry’s day went (daytime)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay, guys. I was able to write this and the latest chapter of ASC while on vacation (it really helps but I don’t wanna go to the beach while the sun is up) but I couldn’t put this up earlier because I was too tired. Sorry. TTATT  
> Anyway, enjoy this short chapter. Sorry for the shortness.  
> I’ve also uploaded a non-magical ‘verse Tomarry one-shot called A Sound in An Isolated Bridge so go check that out as well. ^w^
> 
> Just a head’s up, this is part 1 of two parts divided due to time skip (from day to night)
> 
> Warning:  
> 1 unbeta'ed as usual  
> 2 Well… lack of Voldemort, I guess?

Harry managed to get away from Snape soon after that. Actually, it would be more accurate to believe that the man did not bother to chase after him. A quick chant of Tempus showed that the first class after lunch would end in about ten minutes. Harry bit his bottom lip as he quickly tried to remember if he knew what Diggory’s class was by this time.

 

Nope. Not at all.

 

Why would he anyway? It wasn’t like Diggory interested him.

 

Contrary to what the majority of the students and school staff may believe, Harry didn’t feel any bitterness over his lost to the Hufflepuff seeker. He wasn’t a competitive person. In all honesty, he became a seeker because of the rush he gets whenever he was flying.

 

… and the elation he feels whenever he gets someone to do something stupid during their matches.

 

Hell, given a chance, Harry would most definitely like to try being a beater. Any excuse inflicting pain unto others without consequences sounded like a fabulous activity for him.

 

He could feel Voldemort’s amusement at that thought.

 

Harry stopped by the courtyard, noticing Fleur with her usual band of… friends, Harry supposed that would be the proper term. Taking a deep breath, Harry briskly walked towards Fleur. One of her friends turned to stare at him, causing a chain reaction for all the rest to turn to his direction.

 

Harry gave a small awkward wave as he mumbled, “Hey. Can I… talk to you for a moment, Miss Delacour?”

 

Fleur stared at him for a moment before nodding, “Of course.”

 

Fleur got up and followed Harry as they walked away from her friends. Harry stopped by the tree where her friends could still see her yet wouldn’t be able to hear them. Harry didn’t bother putting up any privacy charms or the like. He honestly didn’t care if people hear their conversation. The whole talking ‘privately’ was more for show than anything deep.

 

Harry took a deep breath before blurting out in a whisper, “The first task is about dragons.”

 

Fleur blinked at him for a few seconds before asking, “Excuse me?”

 

“The first task.” Harry repeated, trying very hard not to roll his eyes as he kept his face to look half-nervous and half-determine, “Dragons are part of it. I don’t know how or what they want us to do. All I know is there are four dragons and there are four champions so we’re most probably going to face one each.”

 

Fleur stared at him without saying anything, a confused look smearing her beautiful face. Harry pursed his lips as he mumbled, “You don’t believe me.”

 

“That’s not it!” Fleur immediately replied but Harry shook his head.

 

“It’s okay. I understand.” Harry backed away from Fleur, shrugging as he nonchalantly said, “Why would you believe me anyway. I’m a rival champion and a well-known liar according to the newspaper.”

 

Harry’s lips curved into a bitter smile as he mumbled, “Good luck with the first trial, Miss Delacour.”

 

“’Arry!” Fleur called out but Harry had broken into a run, not bothering to look back or stop. The worried and pained tone of Fleur’s voice almost made Harry mimic Luna and skip but he refrained from doing so. It wouldn’t paint a good picture now, would it?

 

Well, with that done, he had an excuse to act withdrawn and a bit bitter which suited him more. He could only act like a kicked puppy for so long.

 

Harry ran towards the library, only stopping when the librarian glared at him again. Harry ducked his head and briskly walked towards the table where Krum was currently reading some kind of book Harry couldn’t read from where he was. When he neared the table, he realized that Krum was sitting across Hermione.

 

Oh. Well. This just turned out to be more awkward now.

 

Harry sighed tiredly before walking towards them. Harry didn’t bother to say anything and simply sat next to Krum, making both of them raise their head to stare at him. Hermione’s eyes widened while Krum simply stared at him with a blank expression in his face. Harry propped his arm up and rested his cheek against his palm as he asked Hermione, “Do you know Diggory’s next class?”

 

“Harry, I-“

 

Harry grimaced at the quivering tone and cut her off, “I’m sorry, Hermione, I really have no time for idle chitchat. It would be a great help if you know Diggory’s next class.”

 

Hermione closed her quivering mouth and her eyes began to water. Harry sighed and turned towards Krum as he asked, “You wouldn’t happen to know, would you?”

 

Krum stared at Hermione for a moment before turning his attention back at Harry. Harry noticed the restrained anger hidden in his eyes as he ordered in a calm tone, “Apologize to her.”

 

“No.” Harry retorted nonchalantly, surprising both of them. Harry leaned towards Krum as he whispered, “It’s not my fault she’s going to cry over something I don’t even understand. Do you even understand why she’s crying? Because I honestly don’t. Merlin forbids I ever understand her with all her mood swings.”

 

Harry turned towards Hermione and whispered, “If you ever get the chance to control your emotion enough to actually explain to me why you always look like I killed your favourite puppy then, by all means, talk to me. Maybe we can finally lay this fake friendship to rest.”

 

Hermione’s eyes widened at those words but she remained silent while Harry turned to stare at Krum as he whispered, “The first task is about dragons. There are four of them and there are four of us so I assume we’ll be dealing with one each but don’t quote me on that.”

 

Harry got up and announced in a slightly annoyed tone, “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to look for my fellow Hogwarts champion and tell him that.”

 

Harry was about to walk away when Hermione finally whispered, “Harry!”

 

Harry turned to look at her as she tried to stop the tears falling from her eyes. Her voice was full of desperation and anguish as she asked, “Do you… do you really think our friendship was fake?”

 

Harry stared at her with a blank expression as he replied, “I heard that true friends stay with one another against all odds.”

 

Harry’s lips curved into a bitter smile as he mused, “You guys never stayed.”

 

“Harry…” Tears fell freely from Hermione’s eyes.

 

“Goodbye, Granger.” Harry softly said, “It was fun while it lasted. Best of luck with Ron.”

 

Hermione could only watch as Harry walked out of the library, tears silently falling from her eyes. She blinked when she felt Krum’s hand grasp hers gently. Hermione bit her bottom lip, shaking her head furiously while Krum stood and walked towards her. When he was right in front of her, Hermione finally cried.

 

While Hermione cried on Krum’s arms, Harry finally tracked down Diggory using the Marauder’s Map. They were walking out of the greenhouse and Harry briskly walked towards them. He stopped in front of them and greeted with a slight frown, “Diggory, good afternoon. May I have a moment with you privately?”

 

Diggory’s friends turned to stare at him with obviously distrustful eyes. One of them even have the audacity to sneer, “Why don’t you just go back to your snake boyfriend and leave Cedric alone, Potter? He’s not interested.”

 

Diggory’s eyes widened but Harry retorted immediately in a deadpan tone, “I’m not interested in Diggory that way.”

 

Harry shrugged as he added nonchalantly, “And Marvolo Slytherin is not my boyfriend. He just asked to court me a few minutes ago so I suppose, by Wizarding traditions, he wouldn’t become my boyfriend anyway. When I do say yes, he’ll immediately be my fiancé.”

 

All of Diggory’s friends stared at him with confused expressions on their face. It was only Diggory who actually stared at him with a slacked jaw.

 

Apparently pure-blood Cedric Diggory enjoyed the company of muggle-borns or muggle-raised magical people.

 

Harry rolled his eyes and asked Diggory, “A minute? Please.”

 

Okay, maybe ordered with the same tone Voldemort used when he’s about to Crucio someone for being so stupid was more accurate to his tone right now.

 

“Y-yeah, sure.” Diggory finally replied, walking towards Harry. Harry turned around and briskly walked a few feet away from Diggory’s friends.

 

He stopped by one of the many windows littering the hallway and waited for Diggory to stand right next to him. Harry saw Diggory open his mouth so he beat him to it by quickly summarizing, “The first task concerns dragons. There are four dragons in the forbidden forest and I heard they will be part of the task. They didn’t tell me what the task was but I suppose part of it is pitting us with one of them.”

 

Harry tilted his head slightly, enjoying the slack jaw currently sporting Cedric’s face as he asked, “Do you still need to say something or can I leave you to be dumbfounded by your lonesome now?”

 

Harry sucked his lips in his mouth and internally counted. Once he reached sixty, he opened his mouth, making a popping sound, before answering his own question, “Leaving you alone it is.”

 

Harry turned around to leave but Diggory suddenly grabbed his wrist as he shouted, “Wait!”

 

Harry slowly turned to face Diggory, lowering his eyes to stare at the hand gripping him as he commented, “You really need to stop grabbing me like this.”

 

Harry raised his head as he continued in a deadpan tone, “People will start talking.”

 

Diggory spluttered as he immediately let go of Harry’s hand as if it had burned him. Harry flicked his wrist twice before observing Diggory as he asked, “Well? What’s your reason for holding me up?”

 

“Did you really agree to a magical courtship?” Diggory asked in a whisper, leaning closer to Harry.

 

Harry instinctively backed away as he replied, “Yes, I did.”

 

“That’s…” Diggory seem to think of the proper word to use before finally asking, “Isn’t that too fast? The papers said you only met him yesterday.”

 

Harry rolled his eyes as he deadpanned, “I really don’t see why this is any of your concern, Diggory.”

 

“I’m worried about you.” Diggory placed a hand on Harry’s upper arm as he took another step towards Harry. Harry stared at the offending hand, confused to the growing anger he felt from Voldemort, while Diggory whispered, “He’s obviously a Dark wizard and-“

 

“Spare me your Light propaganda, Diggory.” Harry slapped Diggory’s offending hand off him. He glared at Diggory as he hissed, “Light and Dark are simply classification of magic based on various magical theories. It’s not a classification of good or bad.”

 

Harry took a step forward, his head raised as he glared at Diggory, his voice turning slightly screechy as he continued, “Only an ignorant idiot would summarize a person as good or evil based on their magical inclination. What makes us good or evil is what we do, not what we are.”

 

Harry focused his magic on his palm and slapped Diggory on the lower arm, making Diggory hiss in discomfort. Apparently, he had performed some kind of nonverbal and wandless stinging hex. Harry backed away as he mockingly said, “Good luck with the first task, oh champion of Light.”

 

Without bothering to wait for Diggory’s reaction, Harry briskly walked away from him and hurriedly went to Moody’s private chambers. He quickly said the password and went inside, the portrait closing behind him. Harry sighed tiredly and ungracefully sat on his favourite armchair. He watched as Voldemort took off his invisibility cloak, realizing that Barty was still not back. Voldemort folded the cloak then put it in the inside pocket of his robes before he walked towards Harry. Harry watched as Voldemort walked towards him and knelt right in front of him. Voldemort wrapped his hand around Harry’s upper arm. Harry observed the hand for a couple of seconds before finally asking in an amused tone, “Are you… trying to cover Diggory’s touch with your own?”

 

Voldemort continued to remain quiet but glared at him, making Harry’s lips curved into an amused grin. Harry chuckled as he commented, “You’re unbelievable.”

 

Harry’s grin turned more mischievous as he suggested, “Trying rubbing it. That will clearly destroy all of Diggory’s cooties.”

 

Harry could only laugh when he saw the stinging hex from Voldemort dissolve right between the two of them.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yup. Ending it here. XD
> 
> Stay tune for night time where Harry interacts with baby snakes. And Barty finally returns which means… dun, dun, dun… pensieve XD


	22. The Day Before Maleficent – Night Time Part 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> How the rest of Harry’s day went (night time) Part 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this was a bit late. Work has been destructive so be warned that updates will be slowing down (I will still do my best to at least make it once a month but no promises)
> 
> Also, I apologize. I promised baby snakes last chapter but I wanted to post this for you guys and adding the baby snakes would have taken too much time so I cut this chapter into two (the baby snakes will make an appearance in the next chapter). Sorry.
> 
> Warning:  
> 1 unbeta'ed as usual  
> 2 What you’ve been waiting for… the pensieve memories from a certain loyal dog  
> 3 Uuummm… might contain foreshadowing?

Barty did not appear until a few minutes after they were finishing eating dinner. As usual, Harry was sitting on his favourite armchair while Luna sat on the floor next to him, resting the side of her head against one of the legs of Harry’s chair. Voldemort was sitting on the work desk’s chair, writing on a parchment, while Dobby placed cups of filled with warm tea next to everyone. Dobby also left a bowl of soup and a plate filled with mashed potato, grilled chicken and two pieces of bread on the table, both charmed to be warm for a couple of hours. When Barty entered the room, he bowed at Voldemort and Harry hurriedly, “My Lord, Little Lord.”

 

Barty rushed towards the other room, opening it loudly and entering as fast as Moody’s wooden leg could permit him. Harry simply watched in amusement while Voldemort continued to write on the piece of parchment. Luna stood and walked inside the other room, making Harry more curious at what was happening on the other room. A moment later and both Barty and Luna walked out, holding a metal-like basin on either side. They placed the basin on the table next to Harry and Barty took out his wand, placing it by his temple. Barty closed his eyes and took a deep breath, the tip of his wand shining in a white light. Slowly he removed his wand from his temple and placed it in the basin. The basin began to emit a wispy silver coloured substance that reminded Harry of clouds and fog. From that description, Harry realized that he was looking at a pensieve. Barty knelt towards Voldemort as he announced, “I have placed my memories concerning the meeting Dumbledore had with McGonagall, Snape and I this morning.”

 

Voldemort finally raised his head to stare at Barty as he asked, “And what about the supposed errand you had with McGonagall this afternoon?”

 

Barty continued to bow as he summarized, “We spent the entire afternoon contacting previous members of Dumbledore’s Order as well as prospect members.”

 

Voldemort slowly stood as he asked, “His merry band of mindless birds are on the move then?”

 

“Not quite.” Barty replied, “Most of them still do not believe that it is necessary to do so.”

 

Harry cleared his throat, making both men turn towards him. Harry waved his hand as he said, “Okay, two things. One-“

 

Harry pointed at the metal basin as he asked, “Can we look at that now? And two-“

 

Harry titled his head as he continued, “What do you mean by merry band of mindless birds?”

 

Voldemort sighed before explaining as he walked towards them, “During the first war, Dumbledore created his own army called the Order of the Phoenix. The members were mostly fools who were stupidly loyal to Dumbledore… including your parents.”

 

“Oh.” Harry replied with a nod, not really feeling anything over the fact Voldemort just called his parents fools. When Voldemort offered his hand towards Harry, Harry placed his hand over the offered hand and let the older wizard pull him to his feet.

 

They walked towards the metal basin and stopped right in front of it. Voldemort kept his eyes at the basin as he ordered Barty, “I need a list of all the fools you met as well as the ones you know Minerva met.”

 

Barty bowed once more as he replied, “Yes, Master.”

 

Voldemort turned to look at Harry and Harry stared back at him. Harry felt Voldemort’s hand caress the back of his head before suddenly pushing his head towards the basin without any warning.

 

_Harry gasped and opened his eyes, confused why he had them close in the beginning. Harry looked around, noticing that he and Voldemort, who kept his hand on the back of Harry’s head, were in Dumbledore’s office. Dumbledore was sitting on his desk while McGonagall and Snape were on the other side of the desk, standing in front of Dumbledore. Barty, in the disguise of Moody, was standing on the corner with a clear view of the entire room, far away from the door and the windows._

_Harry was about to open his mouth to tell Voldemort that it was not okay to suddenly just push one’s head without any warning but stopped when he heard someone shout._

_“He has a son, Albus!” McGonagall’s frantic voice was quite a sight to see for Harry. He had never seen the Head of his House loose her cool exterior before._

_“We cannot be certain of that, Minerva.” Dumbledore’s voice was composed and soft as he stared at McGonagall in that calm understanding grandfather look he had that Harry remembered most during his first two years in Hogwarts._

_McGonagall slammed the paper on the table, pointing at the picture of Marvolo Slytherin as she hissed, “How can you say that when his son is right there!?”_

_“Minerva, please calm down.” Dumbledore placed a gentle hand on top of Minerva as he reminded, “This is Tom we are talking about. He has never shown any interest in love before. You know that.”_

_Harry felt Voldemort’s grip on his hair tightened but he didn’t say anything._

_“What if we were wrong, Albus?” Minerva whispered, “What if he was never the monster we thought he was?”_

_“I wish I could believe that. I wish that could be true.” Dumbledore whispered back, sadness lacing his tone, yet Harry could feel the fury Voldemort was trying to rein in at those words._

_“You do not have to be in love to have a child.” Snape added with obvious disgust, “Sometimes, lust is all that is needed.”_

_Barty snorted and asked as he glared at Snape, “Does the Dark Lord look like the type of person to be blinded by lust?”_

_“We are not even sure if he is Voldemort’s son.” Dumbledore reminded everyone._

_“He looks like You-Know-Who.” McGonagall argued, pointing at the picture once more._

_Dumbledore stared at McGonagall gravely as he retorted in a soft tone, “Yes, a bit too much, wouldn’t you agree?”_

_“You think he’s the Dark Lord?” Snape asked, glaring at Dumbledore._

_“It is in the realm of possibility.” Dumbledore replied vaguely, making Snape narrow his eyes._

_“If he was the Dark Lord, why would he bother with this pretence?” Snape sneered, “He could just as easily summon his followers and start rebuilding his forces. Contacting Potter in Hogsmeade of all places is too risky. He pretty much announced his very existence to the entire world.”_

_“Not to mention it would put him under your radar.” Barty added gruffly._

_“That is quite true.” Dumbledore mumbled, staring at the picture silently for a couple of minutes before finally raising his head to stare at the three professors in his office, “Let us then say he is who he say he is. That he is Voldemort’s son…”_

_Dumbledore turned to ask Snape, “Would Voldemort entrust his son to the Notts?”_

_Snape grimaced as he replied, “Lord Nott is one of the sanest followers in the Inner Circle. He is also one of the oldest and one of the original Knights. It would explain why he would renounce his loyalty at the end of the war even though he was one of the most loyal of the Death Eaters. The Dark Lord could have ordered him to ensure his son’s safety first. House Nott also does not receive as much limelight as House Malfoy. Among the Inner Circle, I can see the Dark Lord entrusting his supposed son to Lord Nott or the late Bartemius Crouch Junior the most.”_

_Moody’s hand twitched but he remained silent as Snape continued, “The Lestranges would have been easily compromised. Not to mention, Bellatrix Lestrange would never renounce the Dark Lord, even if it was to survive. Rabastian could have been a candidate but he is too close to both his brother and his sister-in-law. Any crimes committed by the two would paint a giant arrow on his back. Dolohov is too rough. The idea of him even being near children should be avoided at all cause. The man would easily kill a weak child with his disciplinary actions and traumatize any children who survived under his care.”_

_“What about Lucius Malfoy?” McGonagall asked._

_Snape immediately shook his head before replying, “House Malfoy is too well known and too easily noticed. Their personal life is an open book to the public. Receiving a ward would be very hard to hide, even if said ward went to Durmstrang.”_

_Snape crossed his arms before continuing, “It would also make Igor’s sudden betrayal and change of career to Headmaster of Durmstrang that more suspicious.”_

_“You believe he betrayed the Death Eaters to ensure the boy gets to Durmstrang?” Dumbledore asked, raising an eyebrow at the idea._

_Snape scoffed at the idea before retorting, “No, Igor most definitely betrayed the Dark Lord but his sudden career change could easily done after a long… enlightening talk with Lord Nott.”_

_Dumbledore rubbed the bridge of his nose as he asked, “Is it possible for Marvolo Slytherin to be continuing his father’s work?”_

_“I cannot be sure.” Snape replied with a frown, “The darkening of our marks could easily be because he had arrived in Britain soil. A child’s magical signature closely resembles their parents and is the reason why Life Debts are inherited. I am unsure if the similarity between their cores would be enough for him to access us using our mark. If he was continuing his father’s work… well, I see no point in announcing his very existence to the public right now.”_

_Harry could hear the obvious anger in Snape’s voice when he said the words ‘Life Debts’ but remained quiet as Snape continued, “Perhaps your fear that the Dark Lord was returning had been false. It could have easily been the arrival of his son.”_

_“If he is Voldemort’s son.” Dumbledore reminded them before placing his hand on top of his other hand as he said, “Regardless, we must find out more about this Marvolo Slytherin.”_

_Dumbledore turned to stare at Snape as he asked, “Will you be able to ask the headmaster of Durmstrang about Marvolo Slytherin? Try to ask him if he knew about the existence of the boy and his parentage. As well as inquire about him from Nott?”_

_“It seemed Durmstrang itself knew but if it will make you less irritating then I will endeavour to do so.” Snape drawled with a frown, “Lord Nott, on the other hand, may be close to impossible. He has shown his obvious dislike over me ever since you came to my defence.”_

_“Even if you say that you are spying on us?” Dumbledore inquired with his brows slightly furrowing._

_“He will not listen.” Snape shook his head before adding, “Lucius had tried to talk to him on my behalf but Lord Nott refused to listen. It seems any affiliation with you is deemed as a disgusting contagious disease.”_

_“Then perhaps you can suggest to Lucius Malfoy to inquire instead?” Dumbledore suggested with twinkling eyes._

_Snape’s grimace grew as he drawled, “I will try.”_

_Dumbledore turned towards McGonagall as he asked, “Can you ask our friends in the Ministry to check if there is anything about Marvolo Slytherin? Perhaps they have someone who works in Foreign Affairs that can ask around Magical Bulgaria?”_

_McGonagall nodded before taking the newspaper. Dumbledore turned to look at Barty and was about to speak when McGonagall interjected, “These two might not know him when he was a Hogwarts student but I do, Albus. If he was still Tom Riddle when the war started… if this boy is like Tom Riddle for even just a sliver-“_

_“Tom Riddle pretended to be who you wanted him to be, Minerva.” Dumbledore cut her off gently, staring at her sadly as he continued, “The darkness in that boy was too much. It had always been too much. He was lost even before he entered Hogwarts. He charmed everyone with his lies-”_

_“Not everything was a lie, Albus!” McGonagall shouted. A moment later and her eyes widened as she realized what she had done. McGonagall gripped the papers tightly as she mumbled, “I-I’m sorry. I… I have to get to my class.”_

_Without waiting for anyone to say anything, McGonagall turned around and left the office quickly; making all three men stare at the door where she had briskly walked out from. Barty turned to stare at Dumbledore as he commented, “She could be compromised, Albus.”_

_“Minerva is simply too kind. Even till now, she still wants to believe that the boy she knew existed in the first place.” Dumbledore defended with a sigh and Harry felt Voldemort’s grip on his hair tightened once more. Dumbledore shook his head before adding, “She knows what is right and she will fight for it. We can trust her.”_

_Snape glared at Dumbledore as he argued, “Right and wrong are subjective. What can be right to you may be wrong for her.”_

_Barty scoffed before sneering at Snape, “That’s rich, coming from you.”_

_Snape turned to glare at Barty while Dumbledore tried to keep them in check by telling Barty, “Harry seems to be spending a lot of time in your office.”_

_Barty nodded and explained, “We’ve been going over some offensive and defensive spells he might need in the tournament. Merlin knows the boy needs all the help he can get.”_

_“The boy needs all the help he can get simply getting up.” Snape sneered with disdain, “You spoil him too much.”_

_Barty glared at Snape as he growled, “You don’t know the boy the way I do. You might think I’m spoiling him but I disagree with you. That boy needs every help I can give him.”_

_“Yes, he does.” Dumbledore agreed, stopping Barty from saying more, and nodded before asking, “May I ask you to ask Harry why he had agreed to meet with Marvolo Slytherin in the first place?”_

_Barty waited for a few seconds for another question but Dumbledore remained quiet, staring at him. Barty raised an eyebrow as he asked, “You’re not going to ask me to ask the boy if what was written in the papers were true?”_

_“What do you mean?” Dumbledore asked._

_“The implied abuse, Albus.” Barty hissed, making Snape freeze with his words, “Rita Skeeter interviewed his aunt-“_

_“Rita Skeeter dramatized too many things, my friend.” Dumbledore cut off and Harry furrowed his brows when he noticed that Dumbledore had turned to stare at Snape when he said that line. Dumbledore’s eyes were soft and his voice was gentle as he added, “Harry is safe in his relatives’ house. No one with ill intent can get to him there. He is protected by his mother’s love.”_

_Snape’s eyes hardened and he hissed, “Do not forget that muggles are humans as well, Dumbledore.”_

_With that said, Snape turned around and stormed out of the office, his robes billowing as usual. Dumbledore stared at Snape with soft sad eyes before sighing tiredly. He lowered his head and asked, “What do you think, Alastor?”_

_“We’re caught in a very bad position right now.” Barty replied dutifully, “Whether this man is the son of the Dark Lord or not, you can rest assure that his very existence has thrown everything into chaos. The Ministry alone will be divided about his very existence. Not to mention, the Ministry and you yourself were not written in such a good light in today’s papers.”_

_“Yes, I realize that.” Dumbledore stared at the newspaper again before asking, “It might be better to call upon our allies once more.”_

_“Better now than later.” Barty agreed gruffly, “Constant vigilance is necessary, now more than ever.”_

_Dumbledore nodded and stated gravely, “Whether Marvolo Slytherin is truly who he says he is or not, his very presence here in Britain will surely disrupt our current situation.”_

_Barty began walking towards the door but stopped when Dumbledore called softly, “Alastor.”_

_Barty turned to stare at Dumbledore who stared back at him with his gentle grandfatherly eyes, “Harry seems to trust you most of all right now. Be there for him, help him. Make sure he doesn’t get hurt.”_

_At those words, Harry couldn’t help but scoff._

_Barty stared at Dumbledore for a moment before replying, “I’m his professor, Albus, not his guardian. It is my responsibility to teach him, not hold his hand. But… the boy is strong, Albus. He is perhaps even stronger than you assume.”_

_“I know Harry is a strong boy.” Dumbledore nodded but his lips curled into a slight frown as he continued, “But he has been distant to his friends and, now, he is making friends with the heirs of Greengrass and Zabini after being friends with Young Nott.”_

_Barty opened his mouth but stopped. He closed his mouth and remained quiet for a second before grunting, “I’ll look out for the boy.”_

_“Thank you, my friend.” Dumbledore said softly, earning a nod from Barty._

_The office and Dumbledore slowly began to turn into white mist, heralding the end of the memory._

_Harry couldn’t explain it but something inside him made him turn his head towards the disappearing bookshelf. He kept his eyes at the bookshelf as it disappeared, wondering why he had the sudden urge to stare at that space on the first place._

 

Harry blinked twice, his visions returning to show Barty’s office as they straightened their back. Voldemort’s grip on his hair remained and Harry turned to stare at him, noticing the emotionless mask he had placed. Harry tilted his head as a silent question. Voldemort turned to stare at him.

 

“<< Did you feel it? >>” Voldemort hissed, making Harry curious to why he had decided to speak in serpent’s tongue.

 

“<< Feel what? >>” Harry asked back.

 

“<< The call. My- >>” Voldemort stopped and stared at Harry silently for a couple of seconds. The grip on his hair loosened and Harry felt Voldemort’s hand rest at the back of his neck. He felt Voldemort’s thumb caressed the skin at the back of his ear for a moment before he dropped his hand as he mumbled, “Never mind. It’s not important right now.”

 

Harry didn’t pry, trusting Voldemort’s words.

 

Huh.

 

When did he start trusting Voldemort’s words completely?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Weeeeelllllllll… I guess you guys would understand what Voldemort meant.
> 
> … Right? XD


	23. The Day Before Maleficent – Night time Part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> How the rest of Harry’s day went (night time) part 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning:  
> 1 unbeta'ed as usual  
> 2 What you’ve been waiting for… more baby snakes…  
> 3 WE HAVE FLUFF! I repeat! WE HAVE FLUFF!

Theodore knocked on the door an hour after Voldemort and Harry had watched Barty’s memories. Harry had been busy reading more about wizard pregnancies while Voldemort continued to write on different pieces of parchments. There were already two growing stacks on the table next to where he was writing. The taller stack was slowly being distributed into three smaller stacks on the floor by Barty and Luna. How Luna knew which stack each one was supposed to go since Barty was the one unrolling them to scan the contents before handing it to the only witch in the room without saying anything, Harry did not know and was too lazy to understand.

 

If the two Ravenclaws happen to be able to communicate telepathically, Harry would be pleased since that would require less instruction.

 

“Good evening, My Lord, Little Lord.” Theodore greeted after going inside and ensuring the door was closed behind him. He continued to bow at Voldemort as he announced, “Daphne Greengrass requested Little Lord’s presence in the Slytherin Common Room.”

 

All three wizards raise their head to stare at Theodore, all having different expressions in their face. Barty had a curious look while Voldemort had a calculating look and Harry looked like he didn’t really want to go. Harry turned to look at Voldemort and asked, “Can I not go?”

 

Voldemort raised an eyebrow as he replied, “Only if you can give a good reason.”

 

“You’re obviously busy writing Dark Lord related stuff.” Harry reasoned, making Voldemort’s raised eyebrow rise up some more, “And if I go, you’ll be forced to go.”

 

“You don’t care about any of my Dark Lord related ‘stuff’.” Voldemort drawled, flicking Harry’s wand towards the parchment he was currently writing on to dry the ink, “Try again, luv.”

 

“Slytherins don’t like me.” Harry whispered conspiratorially with big wide green eyes. Theodore almost cut in but stopped himself in time.

 

“As the current Lord Slytherin, I would have to deny that allegation.” Voldemort drawled once more, rolling the parchment.

 

“Of course you would, you love me.” Harry batted his eyes coyly. Barty covered his mouth with the parchment he was currently holding to hide his smile while Theodore bit the inside of his mouth to stop his lips from forming into a treacherous smile of his own. Only Luna smiled as she nodded happily at Voldemort.

 

“Yes, I do.” Voldemort immediately retorted in the same bored drawl he had been using the entire time, “I would gladly torture and maim every single person who had even looked at you negatively just to show how much I love you.”

 

“You mean you’d use it as an excuse to be the sadistic megalomaniac we all know you are.” Harry grinned as he retorted, “And if you do that, I’m afraid you would be killing almost all the magical people in Britain.”

 

“Now we can’t have that.” Voldemort mockingly looked thoughtful as he said, “I do need subjects in my quest to rule the world.”

 

“Don’t you mean slaves?” Harry drawled. Voldemort placed the rolled parchment in the inside pocket of his robes as he stood. Harry pouted as he asked, “Do I really have to? Can’t we just continue our playful conversation?”

 

“I believe talking about how Magical Britain’s populace will fare under my rule is not a playful conversation.” Voldemort drawled, walking towards Harry. He offered his hand towards Harry who simply pouted at him. Voldemort raised an eyebrow as he ordered calmly, “Stand up, Harry.”

 

“I don’t want to.” Harry petulantly replied.  

 

“Your loyal puppy requires your presence in the Slytherin Common Room.” Voldemort explained patiently, “I believe she plans to usurp the Malfoy’s heir tonight in your presence.”

 

Harry immediately perked up at that thought as he asked, “Really?”   

 

“I believe so.” Voldemort replied, “Although I could be wrong.”

 

Harry grinned and grabbed Voldemort’s hand. He pushed himself up as he replied, “The possibility is enough for me.”

 

Harry began jumping slightly in his place as he urged hurriedly, “Well come on. Hurry up. Put on my Invisibility Cloak and do your paranoid bibidi-babidi-boo so we can go. Chop-chop. My loyal dogs are waiting.”

 

“There is no such spell that uses such ridiculous incantation.” Voldemort commented with furrowed brows.

 

“Come on, wear it already.” Harry urged, waving their hands together wildly.

 

“I cannot wear your cloak unless you let go of my hand, luv.” Voldemort finally told him with amusement laced in his tone. Harry immediately dropped his hand and Voldemort chuckled softly as he took out the cloak from the inside pocket of his robes. Harry grabbed the cloak and wrapped it around Voldemort quickly.  Harry continued to impatiently stare at where Voldemort was standing while Voldemort chanted all his usual spells. Finally, he offered the wand to Harry who took it hurriedly and pocketed it. Inwardly, Voldemort added ‘wand sheath’ to the growing list of things he needed to procure for his future consort. Luna stood and followed Harry as he walked towards the door, smiling at Barty as she waved while Harry quickly said, “Bye, Barty, wish me luck tomorrow.”

 

“I’m sure you won’t need it, Little Lord.” Barty commented before bowing as he said, “Good night, My Lord, Little Lord.”

 

Theodore opened the door and stepped the side, waiting patiently for Harry and Luna to step out. There was a huge gap between Luna and Harry which Theodore deduced as where the Dark Lord was currently standing. Harry waited by the corridor as Theodore closed the door behind him. Luna was on his left and he could feel Voldemort’s presence on his right. He let Theodore lead the way towards the dungeons.

 

There were so many twists and turns that Harry just gave up trying to remember how to get there. He had the Marauder’s Map anyway. If he ever needed to visit the Slytherin Common Room once more, he would just use that.

 

Or ask Voldemort to lead the way.

 

Maybe even Luna. She seemed to know a lot about the crooks and crannies of Hogwarts.

 

They stopped in front of a stone wall in some part of the dungeon that Harry wasn’t sure if he ever been to.

 

In his defence, the entirety of the dungeon all looked alike.

 

“Parseltongue.” Theodore announced and Harry raised an eyebrow at the password as the wall moved to show the entrance to the Common Room. Theodore continued to walk ahead, his face hard and threatening to every single Slytherin who stared at Harry. Harry didn’t pay them any attention, quickly looking around and realizing that the Common Room was once more the same as he had seen when he ‘infiltrated’ it with Ron during the whole ‘Heir of the Slytherin’ fiasco.

 

One of the things different this time around was the same glass table and chairs they had used when he had tea with Daphne and Blaise were now in the middle of the Common Room. There were more chairs now and all of Daphne’s ‘allies’ were already sitting there, chatting quietly among one another. Daphne was the first to notice them and she smiled gently as she stood, “Lord Harry. I am quite delighted you could come.”

 

The rest of her allies stood as well and waited for the three to reach the table. Harry raised an eyebrow at Daphne and she smiled coyly, “Do forgive the sudden change of scenery. We had wished to have tea in the courtyard once more but that awful squib shooed us like we were common stray cats.”

 

“A common stray cat would have more manners than that squib and his horrid ball of fur combined.” Millicent sneered.

 

Harry turned towards Millicent and commented in an amused tone, “You like to sneer a lot, don’t you?”

 

Millicent blushed and lowered her head while Daphne chuckled softly before replying, “Forgive her, Lord Harry. The squib’s cat tried to… court her cat last year.”

 

“Court?” Millicent parroted in a high pitch tone, “You mean that horrible monster tried to rape my precious Mister Snugglepuff!”

 

“Snugglepuff?” Harry whispered towards Theodore who was on his left.

 

Theodore whispered back, “I didn’t even know she had a cat.”

 

“Of course you don’t. You barely paid any of us any attention.” Tracey whispered towards Theodore before whispering to Harry, “Millie’s little sister named the cat.”

 

“I guess I could understand that.” Harry shrugged before turning to stare at Theodore. He smiled gently at Theodore while tilting his head towards the chair in front of him. Theodore got the message and walked towards the chair. Harry took a few steps to the side so that Theodore could pull it. Harry nodded at Theodore before sitting. Everyone waited while Harry made sure his robes wasn’t in disarray. Harry finally raised his head to stare at everyone and smiled as he said in a tone that was similar to Voldemort whenever he was mockingly pleasant to someone, “Please sit.”

 

Everyone sat on their respective places. Theodore sat on his left while Daphne sat on his right. On Daphne’s right was Zabini, who had been quiet for quite some time now. Tracey was on Zabini’s right while Millicent was between Tracey and Lils. Luna sat on the floor between Theodore and Harry, resting her head on the side of Harry’s chair. Daphne’s eyes widened and she stood, immediately apologizing, “Forgive me, Lady Lovegood. I seemed to have mistaken the number of chairs we needed-“

 

“It’s quite alright.” Luna replied without standing up. She turned to face Daphne and placed her chin on Harry’s thigh as she replied, “I am right where I am supposed to be: next to my Lord as his favourite puppy.”

 

Harry chuckled and patted Luna’s head as he commented, “That doesn’t mean I need you grovelling by my feet, my dear.”

 

Luna pouted as she replied, “But I love it here. May I please stay here, My Lord?”

 

Harry sighed and patted Luna’s head once more as he replied, “Very well. But only today, okay?”

 

“Thank you, My Lord.” Luna smiled before resting her head against the chair once more. She took out a small notebook from the inside pocket of her robes and tear out a piece of paper. She began folding the paper while humming softly.

 

Harry patted Luna’s head once more before turning to face Daphne as he said, “Just prepare another chair next time.”

 

“Of course.” Daphne nodded before turning towards Luna once more as she repeated, “I am truly sorry for the inconvenience, Lady Lovegood.”

 

Luna turned to face Daphne once more and said, “Please call me Luna, Daphne. We are of similar status.”

 

Daphne’s lips curved into an amused smile as she replied, “Yes, you are quite right… Luna.”

 

Luna nodded before turning away once more, focusing on how she kept folding the paper. Daphne grabbed the tea pot and poured it on Harry’s cup as she explained, “This is a different blend from before, Lord Harry, and many of our associates would complement this blend with cakes and other sweet pastries. My sister loves this blend. She always drinks it whenever she would eat something sweet.”

 

“Your sister… her name is Astoria, correct?” Harry asked, even though he knew he was correct. One of the things that Voldemort made him do during their ‘date’ had been to memorize all the immediate family members of Daphne’s allies.

 

“Yes, Lord Harry.” Daphne replied a smile before raising her head to look around the common room. Theodore grabbed the milk pot and placed a generous amount of drizzle on Harry’s cup while Harry looked around the common room as well. Almost all of the Slytherins in the common room were pretending not to pay attention to them but he could see the quick glances they would give every other second. Some of the lower years were even openly gaping at them and some of the higher years were staring at them with calculating and curious eyes. One of them even had the courage to stare at Harry and, when their eyes met, a small smirk appeared on the older wizard’s face.

 

“Ah, there she is.” Daphne’s sweet voice made Harry turn to where Daphne was now staring while Theodore dropped a cube of sugar on Harry’s tea. Daphne placed the teapot on the table and offered a hand towards a young brown-haired witch with similar facial structure to Daphne while Theodore mixed the tea with the teaspoon next to the coaster. Harry noted that Astoria had a more delicate face than her sister and had the same hazel eyes Daphne had. While Daphne had a regal air around her, Astoria reminded Harry of that small kitten he saw when he was a child.

 

The same kitten that got hit by a car just a few seconds after Harry saw it.

 

“Come, my dear sister. I want you to meet Lord Harry.” Daphne sweetly ordered and Harry could easily feel just how much Daphne truly did adore her sister.

 

Astoria slowly stood but a hand quickly grabbed her wrist, forcing her to sit once more. Harry finally tore his eyes away from sweet little Astoria and saw Draco openly glaring at him. A quick glance showed Harry that Malfoy Minion A and B were sitting behind him as usual, both having confused look on their face.

 

It was interesting to see that Pansy was nowhere around. A quick glance at the common room showed that she wasn’t in the common room in the first place.

 

Now, wasn’t that just interesting?

 

Daphne’s tone carried a hint of frozen rage as she repeated, “Sister, come here.”

 

“Astoria will not be coming near traitors such as all of you.” Draco hissed at Daphne.

 

Harry finally grabbed the tea Theodore had prepared for him and sipped, enjoying the show, while Theodore grabbed the teapot and began pouring it to each cup. Everyone else kept their attention at the two heirs. Daphne’s eyes narrowed as she warned, “Be careful of your next words, Draco, less you desire to have more enemies than you already have.”

 

“And who would those be?” Draco sneered as he stood, glaring at Daphne before turning his glare towards Zabini, “The son of a murderous witch who happily kills every single man she beds with?”

 

“That is a rumour milling around the gossiping housewives and it’s actually about my mother killing all her late husbands, not everyone she sleeps with. There would be more dead wizards and witches if it had been everyone she slept with, including _Daddy Dearest_.” Zabini looked more amused than angry at those words while Theodore offered his own cup of tea to Luna who smiled dreamily at him as she took the cup.

 

“A half-blood who is only good at potions?” Draco sneered at Tracey who glared at him yet Harry could see that he was a bit shook up at Zabini’s last two words.

 

“How good?” Harry asked Tracey, wondering if he could just ask Voldemort to replace Snape with her if she showed promise. Godric knows, he would rather not drink anything brewed by Snape.

 

Tracey seemed surprised by the question and could only turn to stare at Harry as he began eating the treacle tart that magically appeared on his plate once Theodore began pouring tea to everyone’s cup. Tracey didn’t have a chance to say anything because Draco continued, glaring at Millicent, “An ugly witch whose twin can be seen in Lockhart’s book about hags?”

 

Millicent’s cheeks became red and she gripped the fabric of her robes tightly but remained quiet while Harry ate another piece.

 

“A pure-blood from a family already in the brink of extinction and financial bankruptcy?” Draco sneered as he glared at Lils. Lils, for her part, kept her face blank as a porcelain doll but Harry could see how her eyes seemed to glisten slightly.

 

“And a bloody traitor.” Draco sneered as he glared at Theodore. Theodore turned to glare back at Draco.

   

Harry waited for a moment, letting the two baby snakes have their silent glaring contest before asking, “That’s all?”

 

Everyone turned their head to stare at Harry as Harry sipped his tea. Harry lightly dragged his fork across the plate as he drawled, “You insulted almost everyone in this table except Daphne, Luna and me. Then when you got to Theo, all you can say is a ‘bloody traitor’?”

 

“Get out, Potter. You don’t belong here.” Draco sneered, glaring at Harry.

 

Harry sipped his tea once more before replying, “Believe me, Malfoy, I do not enjoy the presence of your almighty ego but I happen to enjoy the cold atmosphere of this place. Quite comfy, if you ask me.”

 

“Potter-“

 

“Shut up, Malfoy.” Harry ordered, placing his cup on the coaster. He leaned back and stared at Draco as he casually stated, “I have warned you time and time again to be careful of your actions but you never listen. You don’t ever listen. I don’t know if you’re just acting like this for some weird reason or if you were truly raised to be such a spoiled rotten little brat which would really just shows how right I am for giving my scepticisms over your mother’s capabilities, Black blood or not.”

 

“Don’t talk about my mother-“

 

“Like that?” Harry finished for him with a drawl. Harry rolled his eyes when he saw Draco open his mouth and he cut him off, “Don’t even bother to say something along the lines of ‘my father will hear about this’. Honestly, Malfoy, you say ‘my father will hear about this’ so many times I’m sure there are students out there who have a betting pool on how many times you say it in a day and no one votes for the number zero.”

 

Some of the Slytherins covered their mouth to hide their smiles.

 

“And I will talk about your mother any way I wish to. The moment you have shown just how much of an unruly child you are, you had opened your parents for criticism. Salazar knows-“ Harry turned towards the only painting of a bald man with a long thin beard as he added hurriedly, “Not that I know if you do. It’s just a figure of speech or something like that.”

 

The painting of Salazar Slytherin raise an eyebrow and some of the other baby snakes openly gaped, not realizing that there had been a portrait of Salazar Slytherin in their common room in the first place. The only reason Harry knew that he was Salazar Slytherin was because there was a portrait of him in one of the rooms in the chambers. It had been an unfinished portrait and there had been a man drawn together with him.

 

Now that Harry remembered it, that man had worn the same bracelet Harry was currently wearing. The same bracelet Salazar’s painting had been eyeing ever since he came in.

 

“The main point is…” There was a beat before Harry admitted, “I forgot my main point. Salazar kinda threw me off my game.”

 

Salazar simply raised an eyebrow, reminding Harry of Voldemort’s own habit.

 

“To summarize…” Harry stared at Draco as he said, “We all know the truth. You’re throwing a tantrum over losing your leadership to Daphne and you should stop because you are embarrassing yourself.”

 

“WHAT?!” Draco’s voice carried a higher pitch.

 

Harry blinked and turned towards Daphne who smiled at him as she admitted, “I have yet to take the leadership.”

 

“Oh.” Harry nodded and waved his hand as he ordered sheepishly, “I guess… do it now?”

 

“With pleasure.” Daphne’s smile became more predatory and she turned towards the higher years who had been watching the entire commotion, “Slytherin House, I, Daphne Greengrass, would like to claim leadership over my fellow Slytherin year-mates.”

 

Daphne waved her hand towards the table as she added, “Everyone in this table supports my claim.”

 

One of the higher years, a young man who seemed to be Cedric’s age with dark brown hair asked in a slightly teasing tone, “Does the current leader have any objection?”

 

Harry realized it was the same young man who had the audacity to smirk at him. It took a moment before Draco could actually answer, “O-o-of course I have a bloody objection!”

 

Daphne turned to stare at Draco with a disappointed expression as she said, “Do have some decorum, Draco. My claim is indisputable. I have more support than you.”

 

“And one of them is Potter!” Draco hissed before turning towards the higher years, “Do you really want to accept the claims of a traitor?! Or have you forgotten Potter is the reason why we Dark wizards and witches are currently hiding in the shadows?! Have you all forgotten-”

 

Draco turned to glare at Theodore as he hissed, “Your loyalties?!”

 

“My loyalty and my family’s loyalty have and always will be to the Dark Lord.” Theodore proclaimed calmly, eliciting gasps from some of the other Slytherins.

 

“Then tell me why you’re consorting with the enemy?” Draco hissed angrily.

 

Harry finally lost it.

 

He laughed.

 

He laughed so loud everyone thought he lost it.

 

Luna flicked her wand towards the paper eagle she had created and let it soar towards the ceiling while everyone stared at Harry.

 

It took a few minutes but Harry was finally able to calm himself down. He stared at Draco with mirth in his eyes as he said, “It is so precious. It is just… Dear Godric-“

 

Salazar’s painting finally cleared his throat, glaring warningly at Harry for uttering such a name.

 

Harry raised his hands in surrender towards the painting, “Okay, no mentioning of that name.”

 

Harry turned towards Draco and commented, “This is what this was all about? Because you think Theo betrayed you for me?”

 

Draco opened his mouth but Harry beat him to it, “Theonel has been by Voldemort’s side since the very beginning, one of the two remaining Knights. Do you really think that the sob story of a pathetic boy named Harry Potter would be enough to destroy such loyalty?”

 

Everyone seemed to freeze on their place, surprised more by Harry’s intimate knowledge of the Dark Lord’s history than the fact that he had uttered the forbidden name.

 

“It shows just how much you Malfoys place your loyalty towards him, won’t you say?” Harry continued, smirking at Draco and enjoying the growing anger Voldemort was repressing.

 

“How dare you-“

 

“Enough, Malfoy.” Harry ordered, mimicking Voldemort’s tone when he was about to Crucio someone. Some of the Slytherins including Theodore himself immediately straighten. Harry knew that Theodore was shown penseive memories of Voldemort by his father so he assumed some of the other Slytherins who had the similar reactions were also shown such memories. Harry leaned back as he turned towards the higher years, “I am being courted by Marvolo Slytherin and I have already planned to accept his offer of marriage before Yule.”

 

That announcement made almost everyone gape at him.

 

Even Draco looked a shade paler.

 

“As such, I will become the Consort to Lord Slytherin.” Harry’s lips curved into a predatory smirk as he turned towards the young man he assumed was the leader of the higher years, “I assume that will clear my dear Daphne’s… loyalty?”

 

The young man smirked as well as he replied, “Yes it has, Lord… Harry.”

 

Harry was amused to hear a hint of respect in the young man’s voice. The young man turned towards Draco and asked in a teasing tone, “Do you have any other reasons to challenge Daphne Greengrass’ claims, Malfoy?”

 

Draco gaped at the young man for a moment before shouting, “You can’t be serious, Carrow!?”

 

The young man named Carrow smirked at Draco as he replied, “I assure you, I take my role as the acting Slytherin King quite seriously.”

 

Harry raised an eyebrow at the word ‘acting’ but remained quiet.

 

Draco’s cheeks reddened and he warned, “My father will hear about this!”

 

Some of the Slytherins quietly snickered.

 

“Feel free to tell your father everything, Malfoy.” Carrow shrugged as he continued to smirk at Draco, “Including how you have insulted the court of Lord Slytherin’s future consort. I am sure your father would…”

 

Carrow’s smirk was downright sadistic as he finished, “… like to know just how much damage his precious little boy created towards the Malfoy’s standing in regards to Lord Slytherin.”

 

Draco paled at those words, turning to stare at Harry. Harry could clearly see that the ferret finally understood the gravity of his actions.

 

Another dark brown haired man that Harry felt like he should know for some reason whispered something in Carrow’s ear and Carrow nodded, patting the man’s kneecap once before standing. He walked towards Daphne and bowed lightly, taking Daphne’s hand and kissing the back of her hand before announcing, “Congratulations, Lady Greengrass, in taking claim of what is rightfully yours.”

 

Daphne’s lips curved into a pleasant smile as she replied, “Thank you, Lord Carrow.”

 

Carrow straightened his back as he whispered, “I will be expecting more from you, Lady Greengrass. Perhaps you might even usurp me soon enough.”

 

Daphne’s smile turned more predatory as she replied, “That is the plan.”

 

Carrow chuckled before turning towards Harry. He bowed until his upper body was almost parallel to the ground as he took Harry’s hand and kissed the back of Harry’s hand. Harry could see the eyes of some Slytherins widening and a few of them gasped, including Astoria.

 

Carrow raised his head to stare at Harry as he announced, “Forgive my lateness, Lord Harry. Welcome to the Slytherin Common Room.”

 

Harry stared at Carrow and gauged Voldemort’s reaction to the young man’s actions. Voldemort didn’t seem to give of any powerful emotions at the moment so he was most probably calculating how to use this to their advantage. Harry, on the other hand, simply smiled and replied, “It is quite alright, Lord Carrow. Thank you for the welcome nonetheless.”

 

Carrow straightened his back and the other brown haired young man stood. Carrow continued to smirk as he continued, “As much as I would like to let you continue your tea party, I must remind you that curfew will soon be starting. My fellow prefect, Adrian Pucey-“

 

The other brown haired young man that Harry finally recognized as one of the chasers in the Slytherin team nodded while Carrow continued, “-and I will escort both you and Luna Lovegood to your respective common room.”

 

“Thank you, Lord Carrow.” Harry stood, offering his hand towards Luna who took it. Everyone else around the table stood together with Luna. A second later, some of the Slytherins also stood, including Astoria who looked like she was trying to silently beg forgiveness to Draco with her big hazel eyes.

 

“Perhaps another tea party tomorrow?” Harry asked Daphne who smiled at him.

 

“Of course, Lord Harry.” Daphne nodded at him.

 

Harry patted Theodore’s shoulder once before telling everyone, “A pleasant evening to all of you then.”

 

“Good night, Lord Harry.” All of the Slytherins who stood chorused.

 

Harry made sure to smile at Draco, enjoying the almost corpse-like colour the poor snake was now sporting as he was led outside together with Luna.

 

When they passed Salazar’s portrait, the old wizard called out, “Child.”

 

Harry stopped and turned towards the portrait, making everyone stop and stare at the portrait. Salazar continued to stare at Harry’s Ouroboros bracelet as he asked, “This Lord Slytherin… is he Tom’s grandchild?”

 

Harry blinked, surprised that Salazar even knew about Voldemort in the first place.

 

He felt nothing between the link so he walked closer to Salazar and whispered, “<< Lord Slytherin is Tom. >>”

 

Salazar’s eyes widened at the use of the serpent’s tongue while the younger Slytherins openly gaped at Harry. Harry grinned at Salazar and walked back towards Carrow and Pucey who were simply staring at him. That was when Salazar began to laugh. Everyone could only stare at Salazar. The only ones who didn’t pay him attention were Harry and Luna who was busy playing with her charmed paper eagle.

 

“<< Child. >>” Salazar hissed, making Harry turn around once more, “<< Tell that boy to visit me whenever he has the chance. Now that he has taken the Slytherin name, the wards of Hogwarts cannot deny him, no matter how much that foolish lion child tries. There are things we must discuss concerning his responsibility as my successor. >>”

 

“<< I’m sure he’ll find a way to talk to you. >>” Harry replied with a grin before walking out of the common room. Once he was out, he saw Pansy walking briskly towards him.

 

Well, he assumed she had been walking towards him but she seemed to be surprised to see him when she stopped right in front of him, “Potter?!”

 

“Parkinson.” Harry replied with a nod.

 

“What are you doing here?!” Pansy asked, almost losing her grip on the five books in her arms.

 

“Visiting.” Harry replied with a shrug.

 

“Parkinson.” Carrow called out from behind Harry, making Pansy straightened her back.

 

“Ca-Carrow.” Pansy looked a bit afraid as she stuttered, “I’ve just returned from the library. Curfew hasn’t started yet so I’m not breaking any-“

 

“Enough.” Carrow cut her off, waving her dismissively as he ordered, “Go inside, Parkinson.”

 

“Yes, sir.” Pansy hurriedly walked inside while Carrow turned to face the entrance.

 

“Flora, Hestia, I’m leaving you two in charge.” Carrow ordered.

 

Harry heard two girls reply in unison, “Yes, dear cousin.”

 

With that said, the entrance to the Slytherin Common Room became blocked by a wall. Carrow and Adrian walked in front of Harry and Luna. Carrow smiled at the two as he said, “Adrian will escort Luna Lovegood to Ravenclaw Tower. I will escort you to Gryffindor Tower, Lord Harry.”

 

Harry turned to Luna who nodded and smiled at him. Harry nodded back and patted Luna’s head as he said, “Good night, Luna.”

 

Luna curtsied as she replied, “Good night, My Lord.”    

 

Carrow nodded at Adrian who nodded back. Adrian turned towards Luna and said, “Follow me, Lovegood. I know a shortcut to your tower.”

 

“Okay.” Luna replied dreamily and let Adrian lead the way.

 

Harry and Carrow watched the two until they turned a corner, effectively blocking them from Carrow and Harry’s sight. Carrow turned to face Harry and took out his wand. Harry stared at Carrow, not moving an inch. Carrow’s lips curved into a smirk as he asked, “Are you not worried, Lord… Harry?”

 

“I’d like to see you try.” Harry drawled, knowing that Voldemort would retaliate immediately.

 

Carrow chuckled before replying, “I’m afraid I will not be able to grant such a wish. My self-preservation is too high.”

 

Harry realized that Carrow had chanted a powerful privacy charm, something he remembered Barty did every day. Carrow hid his wand in the inside of his sleeve and Harry caught a glimpse of a leather-like strap around Carrow’s wrist.

 

_Wand sheath for the arm, mostly used by duellists_

 

Harry heard Voldemort’s explanation inside his head, nodding as a reply and letting the older boy lead him. Carrow was silent for a few minutes but finally introduced himself, “I am Alastor Carrow, nephew of Amycus and Alecto Carrow.”

 

Harry recognized the names and noted, “The two Carrows who denounced their loyalty during Voldemort’s disappearance.”

 

Carrow scoffed before replying, “Yes, currently the blight in our family name.”

 

“Oh?”

 

“They are not the smartest of us Carrows, I’m afraid. My father, the current head of the Carrows and their older brother, needed to put a leash on them since the Dark Lord’s disappearance. We would have been more than happy had they remained loyal and sent to Azkaban instead of denying their support to the Dark Lord.”

 

“Really?” Harry asked, walking next to Carrow.

 

Carrow stopped and stared at Harry, keeping a respectable distance between them as he explained, “They are mad dogs who are only good at causing carnage, the perfect pawns in the latter parts of the first Wizarding war. My father never took the mark because he believed he could do more as a silent supporter for the Dark and he gave information to my aunt and my uncle to report to the Dark Lord. He was the one who ordered my aunt and my uncle to approach the Dark Lord and serve him in the first place. They were to the Dark Lord’s standards and were in the front lines more often than not. Merlin knows that’s their only talent.”

 

“Why are you telling me this?” Harry tilted his head curiously.

 

“Because my aunt and my uncle are fools who tell everything to my father which he passed down to me.” Carrow replied, his lips curving into a smirk as he continued, “The Dark Lord has never shown any interest to anyone, man or woman, even before his descent into madness. We were all inferior to him and we knew that. That’s what seduced us in the first place. He was unattainable to us, a higher being akin to a god.”

 

Harry didn’t need their bond to know that Carrow’s words were seriously stroking Voldemort’s ego right now.

 

“The idea of him siring a son is preposterous. That only means one thing…” Carrow leaned forward, whispering in Harry’s ear, “Our lord is back and he is Marvolo Slytherin.”

 

Carrow took a step back and continued, “And you are on his side.”

 

Harry watched him silently as he continued, “If our lord was to even consider taking a consort, the only person I can think of who would even be close would be you, his supposed vanquisher.”

 

Carrow smirked as he finalized, “That is why it would be to the betterment of House Carrow if I ensure your satisfaction during my reign as acting Slytherin King.”

 

Harry stared at Carrow for a moment before asking, “Who else do you think would have the same preposterous idea you have?”

 

Carrow continued to smirk as he shrugged, “Perhaps only me. Malfoy is too self-centred and sheltered to even think of such a thing. Parkinson rarely even talks to her father. I don’t believe they even talk about the Dark Lord. My cousins would most probably never know unless I share this to them. The other children related to supposed supporters of the Dark Lord may or may not have the same idea. It really depends on their intellects and their relatives’ current status in the previous ‘hierarchy’.”

 

Carrow’s smirk grew as he added, “Do not worry about it, Lord Harry. I’m sure if they have the brains to reach the same ‘preposterous’ conclusion as I have, they would have enough brains to realize that keeping quiet and ensuring they stay in your good graces will be enough to stop them from running their mouth.”

 

“My good graces, huh.” Harry repeated in a drawl, earning a small chuckle from Carrow.

 

“This way, Lord Harry.” Carrow began walking once more and Harry followed him up the stairs.

 

“What do you mean by ‘acting’ Slytherin King?” Harry finally asked.

 

Carrow didn’t bother to turn around as he replied, “The last actual Slytherin King’s reign ended in 1945. After that year, the title became more of a reminder.”

 

“A reminder?” Harry repeated as he tried to remember when Tom Riddle graduated.

 

He supposed 1945 would be a close year to bet on.

 

“A reminder that the true king kept the tradition out of whim.” Carrow replied with a smirk, “The privileges and responsibilities that came with the empty title remains but all kings and queens bow down to our real king.”

 

Harry continued to stare at Carrow’s back for a moment before asking, “And that is alright with you? Being second to someone you never even met before?”

 

Carrow chuckled before finally stopping. Harry stopped as well, realizing that they were just in front of the staircase that will lead to the Gryffindor Tower. Carrow finally turned to stare at Harry as he replied, “Who’s to say I am not the third? The fourth? The fifth? In the end, they are all numbers making up a hierarchy. One can rise up or fall down and I, for one, wishes to see just how high up I can climb.”

 

Harry stared at Carrow silently as the older boy continued, “A few gracious words from the future consort himself would benefit my ambition, will it not?”

 

“Perhaps.” Harry shrugged, “Not really sure how he would react to me singing praise about another person.”

 

Harry grinned as he added, “He is a very possessive prat.”

 

“I’m sure what I have done today is not worth singing praises about.” Carrow replied with a smirk although Harry saw the slight fear hidden in his eyes when Harry had joked about the Dark Lord’s possessiveness. Carrow kept a respectable distance as he continued, “All I ask is that you say the truth about me when I present myself to the Dark Lord. That’s all.”

 

“I can do that.” Harry replied, mentally adding that he didn’t have to do that since Voldemort was right there with them.

 

“Thank you, Lord Harry.” Carrow nodded as he said, “Have a pleasant evening and good luck tomorrow.”

 

“Thank you, Carrow.” Harry drawled, earning another smirk from the older boy. Carrow walked passed him and Harry assumed he was starting his rounds. Harry shrugged and walked up the stairs, entering the common room after saying the password ‘Quidditch’, all the while wondering whoever decided the passwords for all the Common Rooms since they were so easy to guess.

 

Harry walked up the stairs, not paying any attention to the other occupants of the Common Room, including the entirety of his year-mates. Harry went to his dorm room, placed his bag on the edge of the bed and took off his robes. He grabbed his toiletries and a set of cotton blue pyjamas before walking towards the bathroom.

 

After doing his nightly rituals, Harry returned to the dorm room and jumped on the bed. The curtains immediately covered the entire bed and Harry watched as Voldemort began casting his same spells he would use to ensure no one bothered them or see them in Harry’s bed. Harry folded his Invisibility Cloak and placed it next to his bag. He stared at Voldemort as the older man rested his back against the headrest of Harry’s bed, the parchment he had hidden before currently in front of him while a quill wrote against it, willed by Voldemort’s magic.

 

“Do you even brush your teeth?” Harry asked randomly, making Voldemort stare at him while the quill stop writing in mid-air.

 

“I use spells.” Voldemort replied, returning his attention to the quill and parchment as he added absentmindedly, “I also do not have a toothbrush or any other kind of toiletries with me right now.”

 

“But what about when you have to go?” Harry asked, staring at Voldemort.

 

The quill stopped once more and Voldemort stared at Harry again as he replied, “There are also spells for that.”

 

“Really?” Harry raised an eyebrow.

 

“Yes but they are painful.” Voldemort warned, “The spells are quite invasive as you can feel your magic clean your insides. Naturally expelling your waste is a better alternative. Unfortunately, I do not have that option at the moment so I am force to use such spells.”

 

“How painful?” Harry asked curiously.

 

“A mild discomfort for us considering our high pain tolerance.” Voldemort replied, returning to his quill and parchment once more, before adding absentmindedly, “You might not even feel anything considering you have a higher pain tolerance than me it seems.”

 

Harry hollowed his cheeks for a moment as he contemplated his next words, letting Voldemort write a few sentence in before finally saying, “I would like to do something.”

 

“I will give you books about those spells on a later date.” Voldemort said with a sigh as Harry crawled towards him.

 

“Not about that.” Harry replied with a chuckle as Voldemort turned towards him, frowning when Harry grabbed the parchment floating in mid-air. Harry straddled Voldemort’s thighs, his bum resting against Voldemort’s kneecaps, and rolled the parchment as he said, “I think my experiment will be beneficial to both of us.”

 

Voldemort raised one of his eyebrows and placed his quill on the empty space next to him as he commented, “I will not say no in participating in sexual activities.”

 

Harry scoffed as he threw the parchment towards his open bag before commenting, “I’m honestly thinking that you do have repressed sexual desires.”

 

“I simply understand the benefit of such an act.” Voldemort retorted, letting Harry push him against the bed. Voldemort moved slightly to the left, letting his head rest against the fluffy pillow. Voldemort noticed that Harry was staring intently at him and asked, “What?”

 

“Hm?” Harry blinked for a couple of seconds before finally answering, “Oh. It’s nothing, really. I’m just surprised you let me do this to you.”

 

“Do you think it shows a lack of power?” Voldemort asked, staring intently at Harry as he placed his hands on Harry’s hips.

 

Harry tilted his head to the side as he asked back, “Don’t you think so?”

 

Voldemort dug his fingers against Harry’s clothed hips as he whispered, “I can easily push you off.”

 

“But you’re not.” Harry retorted curiously.

 

“Because I want you to stay where you are. I’m letting you stay where you are.” Voldemort explained, digging his fingers deeper. Harry didn’t flinch even when he knew those fingertips would leave a mark on his poor skin.

 

Harry leaned forward, his face just inches away from Voldemort as he asked, “Ah, so this would be you giving up power?”

 

“For now.” Voldemort added with a slight hiss in his tone.

 

“Aren’t you… worried?” Harry asked, finally resting his entire body on Voldemort’s chest. He placed his arms against Voldemort’s chest, resting his chin against the back of his hands, while he lifted his lower legs up, slightly swaying them. Voldemort looked down on Harry as the younger wizard explained, “I mean, you don’t look like the type to share power.”

 

“I’m not.” Voldemort agreed, grabbing Harry’s eyeglasses and plucking them off the boy’s face. Harry squinted for a moment before finally giving up in finding any kind of clarity. Voldemort grabbed Harry by his bangs, staring at the lightning bolt scar as he asked, “But you’ll never use my own power against me, would you, my dear?”

 

“Wouldn’t dream of it, Love Tart.” Harry replied with a slight grin, “It’s not like this bind will let me anyway.”

 

“Then I see no reason to not share my power with you.” Voldemort’s grip on the cursed Potter hair turned into a caress as he continued, “If I can trust anyone in this world with my power, it would be you.”

 

“Then is this…” Harry rested his cheek against the back of his hand as he whispered, “Is this the bind as well?”

 

“What is?” Voldemort asked, rolling strands of Harry’s hair between his fingers.

 

“This.” Harry waved his hand absentmindedly, “This feeling of security, relaxation and strange… comfort…”

 

Voldemort’s hand froze at those words and Harry closed his eyes as he mumbled, “Don’t stop.”

 

“Is this your experiment?” Voldemort asked with a hint of ludicrousness in his tone, “You want to see if being around one another would bring such feelings?”

 

Harry closed his eyes as he replied tiredly, “A bit.”

 

Harry shifted his hands to rest on the sides and let his head fall onto Voldemort’s chest. Harry let the sound of Voldemort’s heartbeat slowly lure him to sleep as he mumbled, “I also just wanted an excuse… to feel this…”

 

Voldemort stared at Harry’s relaxed face for a couple of seconds, letting their link tell him that the boy had fallen asleep on top of him.

 

… on top of the greatest Dark Lord to ever walk this earth.

 

With a resigned sigh, Voldemort pinched the cheek that wasn’t pressed against his chest. Voldemort hissed when Harry suddenly slapped the offending hand. Harry grumbled something unintelligent before turning his head to the other side. Harry rubbed the cheek that Voldemort had just pinched against his assailant’s chest, earning another sigh from Voldemort. Voldemort placed his hand on the back of Harry’s head, rubbing it slowly as he raised his other hand, palm up, towards the bag. The rolled parchment Harry had thrown flew towards Voldemort and stopped to float on top of Voldemort’s hand. Voldemort flicked his hand and the parchment unrolled by itself, floating right next to Harry. While absentmindedly caressing Harry’s hair, Voldemort willed the quill he had been using to float towards the parchment, writing in the same elegant handwriting Voldemort had.

 

While Voldemort did feel like sleeping was the better option, he still needed to work as the Dark Lord.    

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeeaaahh. This was fluffy. I have no idea why. XD
> 
> Bibidi-babidi-boo is part of the lyrics (and the name of the song itself) sung by the Fairy Godmother in Disney’s 1950 Cinderella. The fact that Bellatrix Lestrange’s actress played said Godmother in the live-action version is purely coincidence. I just remembered the entire song (shuddap, I remember a lot of Disney songs, okay?) and thought it made sense that Harry would use such ridiculous words. God knows I enjoy singing it during work because of how weird it is.
> 
> Alastor Carrow is pretty much an OC. The only known Carrow during Harry’s time were Hestia and Flora. Alastor is Greek for ‘avenger’. He’s not going to have a big impact on the story (I think… maybe… I don’t know) but he will have a bit more scenes, mostly with other Slytherins. 
> 
> Astoria Greengrass may or may not have been sorted to Slytherin. For the purpose of this story, she is on Slytherin. She does have a crush on Draco. Draco may or may not realize it. 
> 
> I don’t remember if there really was a portrait of Salazar in the Common Area. It’s been a long time since I played any of the Harry Potter games and I’m too lazy to play any of the Lego Harry Potter games when I could be playing Uncharted Nathan Drake Collection instead (damn you, Crushing difficulty). For the sake of this fanfic, let’s say there is, they just never realized it. XD
> 
> Speaking Salazar, the identity of the man wearing the Ouroboros bracelet is pretty much given if you read the epilogue of A Single Change (remember, they technically have the same universe)


	24. How to Survive Maleficent

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry now faces the first trial

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope this doesn’t disappoint you guys. XD  
> Heads up and I’m so sorry, instead of writing a sequel to The Riddle and The Warning Star, I posted a new multi-chaptered Tomarry/Harrymort fanfic called ‘Light House’ and it’s heavily influenced by Criminal Minds so check that out (meaning I got hit by a plot bunny while watching how many ways people can kill/torture/kidnap/etc other people so instead of writing a new chapter of The Riddle and The Warning Star, I’m writing a mystery thingie. So sorry. It’ll probably be as short or even shorter than A Single Change so the next chapter of The Riddle and The Warning Star will be pushed until I finish this new fanfic)
> 
> Warning:  
> 1 unbeta'ed as usual  
> 2 What you’ve been waiting for… the first trial

It was a cloudy day so Harry decided to get some light reading by the Great Lake. No one bothered to reprimand him for skipping his classes to read more about magical traditions and etiquette.

 

It was a boring book but Harry enjoyed the distraction.

 

Not to mention, he was sure he was going to get an earful if he accidently grabbed the wrong fork during dinner with the pompous pure-bloods when he finally becomes Voldemort's Consort. Quite frankly, Harry would have no qualm being hidden in some secret manor like Voldemort's dirty secret instead. 

 

The silence and lack of socializing would be paradise in Harry's opinion.

 

Unfortunately, Voldemort wanted him to stand on the limelight with him so he was forced to read books like this that was a bit interesting but also a bit boring at the same time. 

 

He was just reading about the common magical practices about children when a shadow loomed over him. The bushy shadow of where the head should be pretty much told Harry who was now standing next to him. He flipped the page as he asked nonchalantly, "Do you need anything, Granger?"

 

There was a few seconds of silence which Harry used to read more sentences about how it was traditional for magical couple to have two children: the heir and the backup. It was common to have two to three children and the non-heir would be used to strengthen political status and allegiance with other families. Four was not that common but wasn't unheard of. Five above though...

 

"Professor McGonagall was looking for you." Hermione finally got the courage to proclaim. 

 

Harry closed his book before raising his head to stare at the lake. He took a second before turning to face her, craning his neck to be able to stare at her face. Her face was impassive yet Harry could see the slight glistening of her eyes. He sighed and got up, placing the book in his messenger bag. Hermione opened her mouth but stopped, closing it as she stared at the ground. Harry closed his messenger bag and waited for her. She raised her head to stare at Harry and Harry stared back.

 

They stared at each other for a few seconds before Harry finally asked in a slightly bored tone, "And where should I meet Professor McGonagall?"

 

Those words finally snapped Hermione out of her reverie and her cheeks reddened as she stuttered, "Oh, right! I-I'm so sorry. Arena! I mean- there's this arena that was-!"

 

"Yes, I saw the arena." Harry interrupted, having seen the arena when he and Luna were looking for a quiet place to eat lunch since Barty was eating in the Great Halls at that time. Harry waited for a second before asking for confirmation, "So she's waiting for me in the arena?"

 

Hermione lowered her hands and exclaimed, "No! I mean yes! I mean-"  

 

Hermione groaned and turned away from Harry. She began murmuring some words Harry didn't get before taking a deep breath. She exhaled slowly before turning around so fast Harry was surprised she didn't break the sound barrier. She kept her hands by her side, gripping the fabric of her robes tightly as she clarified, "Professor McGonagall asked me to escort you to the arena when she couldn't find you in the Great Halls."

 

Harry almost rolled his eyes at the slightly reprimanding tone Hermione had used as she talked about Harry's 'absence'. But it wasn't the proper etiquette so he simply stared at her with a bored expression.

 

Look at him, pretending to be a good mannered wizard.

 

Voldemort should be proud. 

 

"So I guess the first task will be held there." Harry mused, not really surprised. The arena was big enough to house one dragon at a time, he supposed.

 

Hermione turned paler at those words and her grip on her robes tightened. Harry nodded at her as he said, "Thanks, Granger."

 

Not bothering to wait for her to reply, Harry began walking to the direction that will lead him to the arena faster. It took a few seconds before Hermione began walking briskly to follow him. She caught up easily and she called out, "Harry, please!"

 

Harry didn't bother slowing down nor looking at her as he asked, "Please what?"

 

"Talk to me!" Hermione begged, walking next to him.

 

"I am talking to you, Granger." Harry drawled.

 

"No, you're not!" Hermione persisted, "You're not talking to me. You're-"

 

Harry finally stopped and turned to face her. He stared at her frantic eyes as he asked calmly, "I am talking to you, Granger. You're the one not talking to me."

 

"Wha-"

 

Harry took a step forward and whispered, "You knew, didn't you? You're a smart girl, you would have seen the signs."

 

"I didn't." She whispered back, tears threatening to fall from her eyes, "I didn't see the abuse. Even when they were staring right at me, I di-"

 

"I'm not talking about the abuse." Harry cut her off, taking another step forward as he stated calmly, "I'm used to people not seeing them. The Dursleys perfected their act by the time I was five and people rarely try to see the truth happening around them if it's painful. It's easier to swallow a sweet lie than look hard enough to see the bitter truth."

 

Those words silenced her immediately and Harry wondered if it was because of his emotionless detachment towards his abuse or the fact that he used such 'flowery' words in front of her. Just because he rarely said anything 'profound' didn't mean he can't. It was simply easier to pretend to be shallow. Less people were interested in shallow people.

 

"I'm talking about who I am." Harry continued, tilting his head slightly, "Who I really am."

 

"And who are you, Harry?" Hermione whispered, her tone slightly frantic.

 

Harry's lips curved into a small smile as he replied, "I'm not who you want me to be. I'm not the Harry Potter everyone wants me to be. I pretend to be him. I try so hard to pretend to be him."

 

Harry backed away as he mused, "Perhaps I put too much faith in you and Ron. I thought you two would have realized the truth by now. I guess the fame of the Boy-Who-Lived was simply too much for the two of you to see the real me."

 

"How can we pretend to see the real you when you hid it from us for so many years?!" Hermione countered, tears finally streaming from her eyes. 

 

Harry's lips curved into a small sad smile as he replied, "Perhaps I wanted to see if true friendship can tell the truth hidden in a myriad of lies."

 

Hermione's eyes widened at those words and Harry turned around, walking away from him. 

 

Hermione didn't follow him and that suited Harry just fine. He walked towards the arena alone and he could see that many people had already gathered on the stands surrounding the arena. His breath hitched as he felt his magical core stirring, slowly seeping out of its confinements. It felt like the first drop of water after spending half of the day walking aimlessly in a desert. He looked around, a grin appearing on his face when he finally saw the man responsible for such a reaction sitting on the 'unofficial' Slytherin area of the stands. He ran towards him, using his quick reflexes to dodge the various students and other spectators he almost hit due to his haste. 

 

"Marvolo!" Harry called out when he was finally just a few feet away from them. Marvolo seemed to be talking to Lucius Malfoy but he immediately turned at the sound of Harry's voice. Marvolo's lips curved into a small smile as he waited for Harry. 

 

Once Harry was in front of him, Marvolo gently grabbed Harry's hand and raised it up. He kissed the back of Harry's hand, making blood rush to Harry's cheeks. Marvolo lowered his hand but did not let go as he greeted, "Hello, Harry."

 

Harry grinned at him as he greeted back, "Hello to you too, Marvolo."

 

Harry tilted his head as he asked curiously, "What are you doing here?"

 

Marvolo finally let go of Harry's hand and moved to the side. Harry took a few steps forward, letting Marvolo place his hand on Harry's back. He felt Marvolo lightly push him forward so he took a few more steps forward. When he was standing right next to Marvolo, he finally saw that Theonel was on Marvolo's other side while Lucius stared at Harry with an impassive expression on his face. Harry leaned closer to Marvolo as the older wizard explained, "I asked Theonel to accompany me. I wanted to see how well you will perform for today's task."

 

“It’s nice to see you again, Theonel.” Harry greeted with a smile.

 

Theonel bowed slightly as he greeted back, “The pleasure is all mine… Mister Potter.”

 

Harry grinned when he noticed Lucius’ narrowing eyes at Theonel’s respectful tone but did not truly look at the Head of House Malfoy. Instead, he turned his attention towards Marvolo and blushed as he commented, "You'll probably be more entertained with the other champions' performance than mine."

 

"I highly doubt that." Marvolo retorted with a small smile, "I'm sure you will be the only one to captivate me."

 

Harry's blush deepened and Theonel covered his mouth, awkwardly coughing. Lucius' words was dripping with sarcasm as he commented, "I'm sure Mister Potter's performance will be of some entertainment to all of us."

 

Harry raised his head to smile pleasantly at Lucius as he greeted, "It's nice to see you too, Mister Malfoy."

 

Harry leaned closer to Marvolo and placed his hand on Marvolo's chest, making sure Lucius could see the Ouroboros bracelet. He had spent his entire morning getting away from every nosey student and faculty member who wanted to know why he had agreed to be courted by He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named’s son. If an entire school read about it from Rita Skeeter then the great almighty Lucius Malfoy should have already heard about it by now.

 

The slight narrowing of Lucius' eyes when he caught sight of Harry's bracelet made Harry's lips curved into a playful grin. He made sure to lean his head on Marvolo's shoulder, making Theonel fidget slightly as he looked away from them. Harry raised his head to stare at Marvolo, noticing the amused glint in his dark brown eyes, as he nonchalantly said, "That reminds me. I haven't told you about Mister Malfoy's beloved son, have I?"

 

"No, you have not." Marvolo replied, his pleasant smile slipping into an amused smirk when he noticed the way Lucius suddenly straightened.

 

"I have so many stories about him. I'm sure you'll be interested in knowing..." Harry turned to stare at Lucius with a mocking smile he learned from Voldemort, "... about my relationship with both him and Mister Malfoy."

 

"We hardly know each other to have a 'relationship', Mister Potter." Lucius coolly commented yet Harry noticed the slight tremble in his tone. 

 

"And I would like to keep it that way, Mister Malfoy." Harry pleasantly replied, mentally patting his back for sounding a lot like Daphne right now. 

 

"Mister Potter!" McGonagall's stern voice made Harry groan and hide his face on Marvolo's shoulder, earning an amused smirk from the older wizard. McGonagall walked briskly towards them, narrowing her eyes when she saw both Theonel and Lucius.

 

"Hello, Minnie." Theonel greeted with a nod. 

 

"Theonel, you look..." McGonagall's lips closed for a moment, making Harry curious enough to raise his head to stare at his Head of House just in time to see the strained smile on her face as she greeted back, "It's been a long time."

 

"Yes, it has." Theonel nodded before introducing, "This is Marvolo Slytherin."

 

"We have met." Marvolo interrupted, offering his hand to McGonagall as he apologized, "I apologized for not introducing myself yesterday. As you know, I'm Marvolo Slytherin."

 

McGonagall stared at him for a few seconds before accepting the hand. They shook briefly as she said, "I'm Minerva McGonagall, Deputy Headmistress of Hogwarts."

 

"I've heard of you." Marvolo said with a small smile. McGonagall glanced at Theonel for a second before returning her attention to the charming wizard, "All good things, I assure you."

 

"I highly doubt that." McGonagall curtly replied before turning to glare at Harry, "Mister Potter, you should be in the waiting room with the rest of the Champions."

 

Harry sighed in resignation before replying, "I understand."

 

Harry turned towards Marvolo and asked, "Will you be able to stay after the task? I wanted to tour you around the school."

 

"That will not be possible, Mister Potter." McGonagall interrupted, "Only students and school officials are allowed inside the school."

 

"But Mister Malfoy can strut around the school like he owns it?" Harry countered with a raised brow.

 

"I am a member of Hogwarts Board of Governors." Lucius reminded him, making Harry turn to smile pleasantly at him.

 

As if knowing that Harry was about to insult Lucius' position, Marvolo placed a hand over Harry’s hand on his chest, gripping it. Harry's lips clammed shut when Marvolo squeezed his hand twice before whispering, "We shall see about that tour later. Right now, you should focus on the first task, Harry."

 

Harry turned to stare at Marvolo and hissed, "<< They don't do anything. >>"

 

"<< They do. Students like you simply never realized it. >>" Marvolo countered with before resting his lips on the top of Harry's hair. Harry continued to glare at Lucius as Marvolo hissed, "<< Let it go, Harry. Focus on what you must do right now. Lucius can wait. >>"

 

Harry's lips curved into a smirk which made Lucius narrow his eyes. Harry turned towards Marvolo once more, making the older wizard stand straight so that Harry's head will not hit his face. Harry's face lit up as he asked, "Promise?"

 

"Anything for you." Marvolo replied, kissing Harry's knuckles before letting go. Harry knew that he almost added a pet name at the end but stopped himself since Marvolo never called Harry any kind of endearment. Not like Voldemort who pretty much used pet names every time he and Harry conversed playfully. Harry actually missed calling him ‘Love Tart’ right now. Marvolo pushed Harry to McGonagall's direction. Harry grinned at Marvolo one last time before walking towards McGonagall. 

 

McGonagall was staring at Marvolo but immediately turned around once Harry was in front of her. Neither of the two said goodbye and simply walked away. Harry followed her out of the stands and they stopped by a tent adjacent to the arena. McGonagall turned towards Harry and warned, "You must be careful around him, Mister Potter."

 

"Why?" Harry asked, tilting his head. He had been curious to why McGonagall seemed so opinionated when it was about Tom Riddle.

 

McGonagall's lips curved into a small frown, staring at Harry silently for a moment before finally replying with a whisper, "Some people... act like good people in front of everyone but underneath the mask is a horrible darkness that will destroy anyone who trusted them."

 

Harry blinked. There was something strange about her words but Harry couldn't place what it was. Instead of asking for further information, Harry simply replied, "I know, Professor. I was raised by such people."

 

McGonagall's eyes widened at those words and Harry used that time to slip inside the tent. The three other champions were already inside together with Ludo Bagman. Ludo smiled at him once he saw Harry and announced, "Now that all four champions are here, we can now start the First Task."

 

He grabbed the brown bag next to him and walked towards the nearest champion who turned out to be Krum while Crouch Senior explained, "The First Task tests your courage. Each of you will be paired with a nesting dragon protecting its eggs. Among those eggs will be a golden egg. The retrieval of that golden egg will be your goal. Each of you will pick the dragon you will be facing from the bag Mister Bagman is holding. That dragon will also indicate the order each of you will enter the arena."

 

Krum put his hand inside the bag and Harry noticed the bag seemed to move slightly before Krum pulled his hand out. He was holding the tip of a miniature dragon's tail between his point finger and thumb. The dragon roared and hissed at him while Bagman announced happily, "The Chinese Fireball. You will be the third champion to tackle this task."

 

Bagman walked towards Fleur while Igor discreetly walked towards Harry. He stopped behind Harry's left and whispered, "I hope you know what you are doing, Potter."

 

Harry didn't turn around as he softly replied nonchalantly, "I really don't."

 

Igor whipped his head to stare at him ludicrously while Harry walked towards one corner so he could see everyone. Dumbledore seemed to be staring intently at him and Harry wondered if his headmaster noticed the short exchange between him and Igor. Harry quickly looked away from him and focused his attention at Fleur and her headmistress who both looked a bit paler than usual as the miniature dragon on her hand snarled at her. Cedric was the next person that had to put his hand in the bag and Harry noticed how the older boy looked a bit too tensed as he took out his hand. The miniature dragon on his hand roared at him while Bagman happily announced that Cedric would be the first to tackle his dragon. As Harry stared at the miniature dragons, he realized he had seemed them before in the magical district Marvolo took him to when they were in Magical Romania. Perhaps that was where the miniature dragons were from?

 

Bagman finally walked towards him and offered the bag. Harry put his hand inside and his brows furrowed when the miniature dragon began dodging his attempt on trying to grab it. After a few minutes of awkward silence from Bagman who Harry just knew was really laughing inside at his misfortune, Harry finally managed to grab his dragon by the tail and lifted it up. Before Harry could even lift it out of the bag, the dragon snarled at him before biting his hand, making Harry hiss and drop the dragon back into the bag. Everyone stared at the moving bag silently for a few seconds before Bagman finally cleared his throat before announcing awkwardly, "T-t-that was the Hungarian Horntail, the fiercest of all four. That means Mister Potter will be the last to face his dragon."

 

Harry sighed in resignation before mumbling, "Why am I not surprised? This luck of mine is really the worst." 

 

Harry sat on one of the crates littering the tent and tuned out more explanation from both Bagman and Crouch. Harry opened his messenger bag and grabbed the same etiquette book he was reading before. He closed his messenger bag and dropped it on the ground. He was almost finished with the page when a shadow loomed over him once more. He didn't bother to look up as he commented, "It says here that it is tradition for a magical couple to have two children: the heir and the backup but I noticed that most pure-blood families only have one child. So even the traditional pure-blood family like the Malfoys no longer uphold the tradition of having at least two children?"

 

"Traditions can be changed, my boy." Dumbledore replied in the same grandfather voice he usually used when he was talking to Harry.

 

Harry hummed before turning the page, not bothering to reply to that. Voldemort would have explained why it was no longer practiced. Perhaps he would even talk about the benefits or detriments of such a practice. Harry's legs lightly began to sway as he wondered if he could ask Voldemort about it later on. 

 

Would they be required to have at least two children as well?

 

Harry never really thought about it. Having a family... It seemed like such a cruel dream.

 

"Harry, you need to change." Dumbledore gently whispered, making Harry raise his eyes slightly to look at the article of clothing Dumbledore had in his hands.

 

The vibrant colours of Gryffindor greeted him. Harry lowered his eyes back to his back before asking, "Is that a requirement, Professor?"

 

"Every champion should wear their school's champion attire." Dumbledore explained in the same grandfather voice Harry was used to hearing. 

 

"But Diggory's the Hogwarts' champion." Harry retorted in a whisper, finally closing his book to stare at Dumbledore. He made sure he was only thinking about the times he managed to catch how everyone adored Cedric.

 

He barely noticed how Cedric's entire posture turned frigid.

 

"You are also Hogwarts' champion, my boy." Dumbledore persisted gently and he placed a hand on Harry's knee.

 

Harry kept his eyes trained to Dumbledore's blue eyes as he remembered all of the 'support' his fellow students showed towards him as he replied, "No. I'm not." 

 

Dumbledore's blue eyes looked at Harry sadly as he whispered, "Oh, my boy."

 

Harry pushed Dumbledore's hand off using his book before jumping off the crate. He grabbed his bag hurriedly before walking away from Dumbledore, mumbling, "I'm fine."

 

Dumbledore followed him as he whispered, "Minerva told me about Marvolo Slytherin's courting."

 

Harry stopped but kept quiet.

 

"You must be careful, Harry. Marvolo Slytherin-"

 

"-is not his father." Harry cut off, turning to stare at Dumbledore as he placed his book in his bag. He remembered the small smiles Marvolo gave him as he said, "The sins of the father should not reflect to the son."

 

"That's not what I mean, Harry." Dumbledore whispered and Harry looked away when he saw the pity in Dumbledore's eyes. He usually didn’t care if someone pitied him but seeing such look from Dumbledore made Harry feel… enraged. Dumbledore placed a gentle hand on Harry's shoulder before whispering gently, "You must not get swept away by the kindness you see when it could be a lie."

 

"Because he's a Dark wizard?" Harry asked, glaring at the exit, "Or is it because of who he's father is?"

 

"Voldemort doesn't know love." Dumbledore reminded Harry but Harry didn’t say anything back.

 

"Dumbledore, we have to go." Bagman called out, reminding Dumbledore that he was a judge.

 

When Dumbledore didn't move, Harry retorted coldly, "Have you ever stopped to wonder that if anyone even bothered to show him what it means to be loved maybe he would have?"

 

Dumbledore froze and Harry knew it was because of the memories he played in his head, the memories of a loveless childhood. Harry pushed Dumbledore's hand away as he whispered, "Sometimes, the reason why someone doesn't know how to love is because all they know their entire life is hate and pain."

 

Dumbledore stared at him silently for a few seconds yet Harry kept his eyes at the exit.

 

"And sometimes, there are people we cannot save from the darkness no matter how hard we try." Dumbledore retorted softly before leaving the tent. 

 

Harry's eyes narrowed but he kept quiet, watching the rest of adults leave. A few minutes after they all left, Cedric started to walk towards him but stopped when they all heard the sound of a cannon fire from outside. Cedric stared at him for a moment before walking out of the tent. The sound of the audience cheering marked the start of the first task.

 

Harry walked towards Krum who looked tensed and stopped right next to him, returning his book inside his bag. He stared at the exit of the tent that will lead them to their doom as he said, "So I heard you know Marvolo."

 

If it was even possible, Krum looked tenser and he turned to stare at Harry. Harry turned to stare at him as well and Krum's blank expression seemed to tell Harry that Krum knew that Harry knew that Marvolo's background in Durmstrang was a lie (and that line confused Harry a lot). Harry just tilted his head. From his peripheral vision, he could see that Fleur was discreetly listening. Krum nodded before replying, "He vos older than me in Durmstrang but he vos very helpful in the more advanced subjects Durmstrang offers."

 

"What was he like during his student years?" Harry asked curiously, wondering just how far Durmstang had constructed Marvolo Slytherin's existence.

 

"Quiet." Krum replied. After a few minutes of silence, Krum seemed to notice Harry was waiting for more information. Krum's eyes narrowed slightly, making Harry smile slightly. Krum knew he was playing with him. Krum cleared his throat before adding, "Ve didn't talk about his past. He vos a very private person. I'm sure he didn't even haff any close friends because of his... heritage."

 

Harry hummed, turning to face the exit once more. He barely noticed that Fleur had left while he was talking to Krum. It was a good plan. Marvolo's heritage would make him an outcast even in Durmstrang. If he was an outcast, any Durmstrang graduate who says they knew him will be able to excuse any lack of information as being 'not close' to him. 

 

"You should be careful." Krum warned, staring at Harry intensely.

 

"I know what I'm doing." Harry replied, shrugging as he added, "Most of the time."

 

Krum raised an eyebrow at him which Harry replied with a grin.

 

The cannon fired once more and Krum turned to face the exit. Harry watched as Krum left the tent before hugging his bag. He closed his eyes and pressed his face against his bag and began inhaling deeply before exhaling slowly.

 

He was allowed to fear for his life but a part of him wasn't afraid. It was scary how the very reminder that Voldemort would do everything to keep him alive was all he needed to calm down.

 

Before long, the cannon fired once more and Harry opened his eyes. Harry dropped his bag and walked out of the tent. The loud cheering seemed to engulf him for a moment and Harry looked around. He barely heard Bagman comment about his attire and other useless things. He finally found Marvolo staring straight at him and he felt a surge of calming warmth inside him. He smiled softly at Marvolo who nodded at him. Harry took a deep breath before turning his attention at the dragon. The dragon was currently snarling at him and kept shuffling from side to side. The nest of eggs was to the dragon’s left, slightly further into the centre of the arena. Harry grabbed his wand from the pocket of his trousers and aimed it at the rocks near him. With an image in his mind, he chanted, "Wingardium Leviosa!"

 

Seven large rocks floated in front of him, earning a loud cheering from all around. Distantly, he could hear Bagman announced, "Potter used the levitation charm on multiple rocks. I never expected to see such a highly advanced charm spell in this tournament!"  

 

It was a 'highly advanced' charm?!

 

Harry glared at Marvolo who simply smirked smugly at him.

 

Just because Voldemort was a show-off didn't mean Harry wanted to be a show-off as well.

 

Harry envisioned a clear image of the rocks floating in front of him and the rocks began floating towards him. Once the rocks were floating between him and the dragon, Harry rushed towards the nest. The dragon's roar made Harry feel like he was losing his hearing but he kept on running. The dragon breathed fire towards him and he aimed his wand at the rocks. The rocks pressed against one another, shielding Harry from the fire yet Harry could feel the heat and could clearly the rocks becoming red from the heat they were exposed to. Throughout the dragon's fire attack, Harry kept on running, closing half the distance between him and the nest. The dragon jumped towards the nest, roaring right in front of Harry. Harry aimed his wand towards the dragon and the floating rocks flew towards the dragon. Knowing the momentum would be enough to ensure the rocks continued towards their destined projection, Harry aimed his wand at the rocks in front of him and shouted, "Wingardium Leviosa!"

 

As the rocks in front of him started to float, Harry heard Bagman exclaim, “This is quite a sight! Not only can Potter use a highly advanced charm but he has mastered it enough to perform it twice in a row!”

 

Harry didn’t understand what all the fuss was about. Voldemort was able to levitate more than a dozen books wandlessly and nonverbally and they had spent the rest of their ‘date’ making sure Harry could at least levitate multiple targets. Sure, the first few tries were exhausting mentally and he had to take a lot of breaks in between (which Voldemort used to drill information about Daphne’s allies and their families in Harry’s brain). 

 

He supposed he would just have to ask Voldemort just how rare a ‘highly advanced’ spell was later.

 

The rocks floated towards him while the dragon roared once more, dodging the incoming rocks. The rocks flew passed the dragon and towards the stands. Harry heard a lot of people shouting then the sound of rocks crashing towards some kind of invisible barrier. The dragon swiped its tail towards Harry and Harry used the rocks to deflect the blow. Three rocks shattered sending small debris flying everywhere. Harry grabbed onto one floating rock and flew the same rock towards the dragon. The rock slammed against the dragon's face, bouncing to the other side. Harry jumped off the rock, falling to the ground on his side. Harry rushed towards the nest, ears ringing when the dragon roared once more. Harry aimed his wand at the stationary rocks near him and shouted, "Wingardium Leviosa!"

 

More rocks floated towards him and Harry dived right into the nest. The rocks swooped towards his direction, quickly forming a dome around the nest just in time to cover the nest and Harry from the dragon’s incoming fire attack. 

 

Inside the makeshift dome, Harry felt the rocks behind him heat up and he quickly grabbed the golden egg before crawling to the front. One rock floated forward, giving Harry the space he needed to leave the dome. He quickly ran back towards the tent, using that one rock as cover while the dragon continued to breathe fire at the dome. Once the dragon finished breathing fire, Harry aimed his wand at the dome and flicked his wrist. All of the rocks flew out of formation as if something from the inside of the dome pushed them all out at the same time. Some of the rocks hit the dragon who roared wildly but Harry didn't care because dragon tamers had already entered the arena. The cheering of the entire audience was louder than the commentary yet Harry paid it no heed, ending the last rock's levitation with a flick of his wand. Harry watched the dragon tamers for a moment before raising his head to stare at Marvolo. Harry raised the golden egg above his head and gave Marvolo a triumphant grin.

 

Marvolo's lips curved into a pleased smile and Harry could feel the foreign feeling of pride engulfing him through their link.

 

Harry realized he liked the feeling immensely.  

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not going to be surprised if no one caught the 'reference' with the words 'truth' and 'myriad of lies'. It's actually a reference to the awesome JRPG Persona 4 where the main character gets a skill for the final battle called 'Myriad Truths' (after spending an entire school year trying to find the truth in a fog of lies). I couldn't help myself XD


	25. A Bit of Family Drama

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Instead of staying for the scores, Harry plays tour guide

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Look at that. A weekly update. XD  
> Well, work seems to be... okay last week. Not sure if it will continue on though (hopefully, it does).
> 
> Anyway, enjoy this new chapter XD  
> Thank you Infestation for the correction concerning necromancy
> 
> Warning:  
> 1 unbeta'ed as usual  
> 2 Slight Ron Bashing… maybe?  
> 3 ‘Hints’ of future problems… maybe?

The dragon tamers, one of which Harry recognized as a Weasley, escorted him to the other side of the arena where a makeshift infirmary had been placed. Once he entered the infirmary, Madam Pomfrey pretty much manhandled him to one of the bed and ordered him to sit still while she performed some diagnostic, all the while complaining about the dangers of dragons. Harry had remained silent the entire time, wondering when he'll be able to grab his bag from the other tent. He observed the other champions, noting that Diggory was badly burned and Fleur was paler than usual. Krum, on the other hand, was as inexpressive as usual. 

 

A few minutes later, Harry got his first visitor.

 

"Hey, mate." Ron greeted with a forced smile that slowly disappeared when Harry simply stared at him with an expressionless face. Ron raised his hand and added, "I got you your bag."

 

Harry raised his hand to get his bag as he replied, "Thank you."

 

Instead of placing it on Harry's hand, Ron dropped the bag on the bed Harry was sitting on and Harry grabbed it. He opened his bag and began checking the contents while Ron started, "I'm really sorry for being a git."

 

Harry closed his bag before raising his head to stare at Ron as he asked, "And what changed your mind?"

 

"You've got to be mental to put your name in the goblet!" Ron sat next to Harry, not noticing how Harry scooted away as he continued, "This first task alone was just mad! I mean, you had to face dragons, for Merlin's sake!"

 

"You wanted to put your name in the goblet before." Harry reminded him. 

 

"That was before I knew about the dragons." Ron defended with a blush.

 

"No one knew about the dragons, Ronald." Harry reminded him, staring at him impassively, "I could as easily cheated and put my name without thinking about the consequences."

 

Ron's eyes widened before he asked, "Did you?"

 

"No." Harry replied and tilted his head as he added, "But now you think I do."

 

"I-"

 

Harry got off the bed and said, "You're just making an excuse so that you won't have to face the truth."

 

"And what truth would that be?" Ron asked and Harry could see that Ron was both confused and insulted by Harry's insistent to not accept his apology.

 

"That you did believe I would be stupid enough to put myself in harm’s way for glory and fame." Harry replied as he stood, "You didn't even try and think about how I feel about this entire dumb tournament. I don't need the fame or the money that comes with winning this stupid thing. I have enough money in my trust fund to live a comfortable life. I've never wanted to be famous for surviving a killing curse that killed off my parents so why in seven hells would I want to add more fame? I always get roped into life threatening situation each year so why would I voluntarily seek death?"

 

Ron stood as well as he admitted, "I know I screwed up, mate-"

 

"Stop." Harry ordered, raising a hand towards his chest with the palm facing Ron. Ron closed his lips in mid-sentence while Harry continued, "I don't care anymore. I don't care if you feel bad and I don't care if you're trying to make amends."

 

"Why?" Ron took a step towards Harry which automatically made Harry take a step back.

 

"Because I don't care what other people think anymore." Harry answered, actually surprised that he was telling the truth, "I've found people who like me for who I really am and they..."

 

Harry blinked for a few minutes as he thought about his answer. He sounded a bit confused as he continued, "They actually like me for who I am."

 

"I like you for who you are!" Ron exclaimed, making Harry smile at him indulgently.

 

"No, you don't." Harry corrected, "You like the boy Harry Potter. Not me."

 

"You're Harry Potter!" Ron reminded him.

 

"And I never stopped wishing I wasn't." Harry admitted, confusing Ron further. Harry tilted his head and gently ordered, "Tell me the truth, Ron. You had more fun spending time with Dean and Seamus these past month than you ever did with me, didn't you?"

 

"Wha-Tha-That's different!" Ron defended, "Dean and Seamus are different from you."

 

"You have more in common with them than you have with me, Ronald." Harry explained in the same gentle tone, "You guys are normal boys with normal problems and normal needs. I'm different."

 

"Because you like guys? I don't care about that!" Ron exclaimed hurriedly, "I mean, I don't think He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named's son is a good idea! He's obviously planning something evil! I know Charlie likes both guys and girls, I can introduce you two. You'll like Charli-"

 

"Enough, Ronald." Harry ordered firmly, making Ron stop in mid-sentence. Harry glared at him as he hissed, "Insult me all you want. Make up your sad pathetic stories of how you're the victim and not me. Drag the name of Harry Potter to the ground if you want but do not insult or slander Marvolo in front of me. Do you understand?"

 

"You're mad. You've just known this man for what? Two weeks?! Do you hear yourself right now, Harry?! You're defending someone you don't even know!" Ron spluttered, saying worriedly, "You should have Madam Promfrey check you. He might have put a love potion in your food or drink or-"

 

"He will never stoop that low." Harry hissed, taking a step forward as he continued, "Don't compare him to people like-"

 

Harry stopped when he felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned around to snarl at the offending hand but stopped dead in his track when he recognized it was Luna. Luna smiled gently at him and gently grabbed his hand. Her hand was cold yet it was comforting and Harry could feel his anger subsiding as she whispered gently, "Let's go."

 

Harry nodded and let the younger witch lead him out of the tent. Ron didn't follow them but he shouted, "You need to stay here! They're about to announce the scores!"

 

Harry gripped Luna's hand tightly as he forced himself to calmly reply without turning around, "I don't care about my score. I'm here to survive, not win."

 

Harry didn't pay attention to whatever Ron was about to say and he simply let Luna lead the way. Since everyone seemed to still be in the arena, they were able to leave unnoticed. They began traversing the woods surrounding the arena and Harry took the silence as the chance to say, "Thanks, Luna."

 

Luna turned to smile dreamily at him as she replied, "It was my pleasure, My Lord."

 

Harry walked faster for a moment so that they were walking side by side. Harry stared ahead as he admitted, "I don't know what came over me back then."

 

"It's natural, My Lord, to feel offended for our significant other." Luna sagely commented, making Harry chuckle.

 

"Is that what he is to me now, my dear seer?" Harry turned to stare at Luna with a small smile, "My significant other?"

 

Luna turned to stare back at him, silently observing him for a few moments. Slowly, her smile turned softer as she replied, "He will become so much more."

 

The small disappeared from Harry's lips and Luna added, "You don't need to fear the future, My Lord."

 

Luna used her free hand to gently caress Harry's cheek, forcing him to stop walking. She tilted her head slightly and whispered, "It is alright to fall."

 

"Will he be there to catch me?" Harry mocked, gently pushing Luna's hand away from his cheek.

 

Luna's smile brightened as she replied, "He'll catch you at the bottom."

 

Harry raised an eyebrow at that answer but Luna simply smiled at him. Realizing that Luna wasn't going to expound on that, Harry turned to face ahead and began walking once more. He let Luna sway their connected hands as they walk and asked nonchalantly, "So what's up with you and his eagle?"

 

"Hm?" Luna tilted her head as she replied, "His eagle is such a sweet man."

 

"Yeah, I noticed." Harry turned to stare at her with a grin as he asked, "Are the Nargles telling you to strengthen the relationship between his inner circles and mine?"

 

Luna giggled before asking, “Then are you finally admitting that you are creating your own inner circles?”

 

Harry shrugged as he replied, “Not intentionally but apparently I am.”

 

Luna turned to smile at him as she asked back, "If we were to have a relationship, will you bless our union then?"

 

Harry raised an eyebrow as he answered, "Unlike some people, I'm not an overly controlling master. You're free to do as you please, my dear."

 

"Thank you for your kindness, My Lord. I shall think about it." Luna smiled sweetly at him. They passed by the end of the forest and Harry grinned when he saw Marvolo was waiting for them, talking to Theonel. Marvolo turned to smile at him and offered his arm which Harry immediately wrapped his arm around. Luna gently let go of Harry's other hand and curtsied at Marvolo. 

 

Harry patted Luna's head as he introduced her to Theonel, "This is Luna Lovegood, one of my adorable _friends_."

 

"Ah, yes, Theodore talked about you." Theonel nodded at Luna as he greeted, "It's nice to finally meet you, Miss Lovegood."

 

Luna curtsied at Theonel as she greeted back, "It is nice to meet you as well, Lord Nott."

 

Marvolo leaned towards Harry and whispered, "If we go now, we'll probably at least an hour to walk around without being disturbed."

 

Harry raised an eyebrow and whispered back, "And where should we take our walk?"

 

Marvolo raised an eyebrow and smirked as he reminded, "You did say you wanted to tour me, did you not?"

 

Harry grinned and nodded, "You got yourself a tour guide, Lord Slytherin."

 

"Lead the way." Marvolo grinned back, "My dear tour guide."

 

Marvolo turned to Theonel and said, "Wait for me by Hogwarts' entrance."

 

Theonel smirked at him and teased, "Please don't do anything scandalous."

 

Marvolo raised an eyebrow and retorted playfully, "I promise not to do anything Harry will not give consent to."

 

Harry blushed and smacked Marvolo's arm lightly, making both Marvolo and Theonel chuckle. Theonel nodded at Harry as he said, "Please take care of him for me, Harry."

 

Harry smiled at him and replied, "I'll do my best."

 

Marvolo nodded at Luna who simply waved at him. They hurriedly walked away, chuckling slightly as they reached Hogwarts. Since everyone was still in the arena, the castle was silent and seemed to echo their light footsteps and hushed chuckles. They began walking the hallways as Harry remembered, "Bagman commented something that confuses me."

 

"What would that be?" Marvolo asked, observing their surroundings.

 

"He called my use of the levitation charm as a highly advanced charm." Harry replied, turning to stare at Marvolo as he added, "But we learned it during our first year."

 

Marvolo chuckled softly before replying, "The levitation charm by itself is a basic charm spell. What he meant by a highly advanced charm is your spell of levitating multiple targets at the same time."

 

"How is that any different?" Harry asked, tilting his head curiously.

 

"The magic needed from your core for multiple targets is exponentially greater than when you levitate a single target. The focus you showed to keep every rock levitating while being able to keep your attention to your surrounding and strategize on how to use your spell for the task would also mean that you're strong mentally." Marvolo listed, "You were also able to use the spell more than once which means you have great control over your core and your magical reserve is large even though you are still young."

 

"So it's highly advanced because it's a multiple target version?" Harry frowned at his summary.

 

"Have you ever seen anyone cast a levitation charm over multiple targets at the same time?" Marvolo asked, turning to stare at him.

 

Harry pursed his lips as he tried to remember. Voldemort’s levitations of the books didn’t count so he tried to think of any event that occurred at school. He remembered his charm professor decorated the tree by levitating the decorations one by one. When he couldn't remember a single incident of seeing many objects levitate at the same time, Harry shook his head.

 

That's when he remembered how he made everything floated in the common room when he was a second year student. Harry quickly buried that thought before replying, "I accidently made everything in the common room float when I was a second year."

 

"Accidently?" Marvolo asked curiously yet Harry could see his stare intensifying. 

 

Harry nodded before replying, "I'm sure it was accidental magic. I wasn't... really paying attention."

 

Marvolo hummed before commenting, "Accidental magic hasn't been studied thoroughly. As far as we know, we perform accidental magic when we feel a strong emotion or have a strong thought that consumes us. The older we become, the less frequent these accidental magic become due to our growing restraints and knowledge."

 

When Harry noticed they were passing by the courtyard, he decided to change the subject (since it was going close to a subject Harry didn't like) and asked, "So, what do you want to see first?"

 

Marvolo hummed as he thought about it. He shrugged before asking, "What would you recommend?"

 

This time, it was Harry's turn to hum thoughtfully. They continued to walk aimlessly as he listed, "Well, the Great Halls would most probably be a good place to start. But it's probably not that grand right now since there's no one here. They probably stopped the magical ceiling for now. The Astronomy Tower is a nice place to go but it's not yet evening so it's not like we can look at the stars. The lake's a good idea too, I guess, but it's not exactly inside the castle."

 

Harry turned to stare at him as he asked, "Is there any specific place you want to see? Like, if you can only go to one place in this entire castle, where would you want to go?"

 

Marvolo stopped, forcing Harry to stop as well. Harry tilted his head slightly as he watched the impassive expression on his face. Marvolo turned to face Harry and replied, "Slytherin Common Room."

 

Harry blinked as he commented, "Well, I know how to get there and I'm sure they haven't changed the password yet but can I ask why?"

 

Marvolo began walking once more before he replied, "The Dark Lord was a Slytherin."

 

Harry continued to observe him, letting the older wizard guide him towards the dungeon. They continued to walk arm in arm as Harry asked, "Have you ever wondered how different your life would have been had you been raised by your father?"

 

"I wondered about it." Marvolo admitted nonchalantly. When he realized Harry wasn't going to comment, Marvolo continued, "But I realized I didn't want to change my past."

 

"Why not?" Harry pressed, letting Marvolo lead him to the confusing maze the students called the dungeon.

 

"Because I am what I am right now because of the circumstances forced upon me and my reactions to each and every single one of them." Marvolo replied, turning to the left once more, "Perhaps my life could have been better had I lived with my father. Perhaps it would have been horrible. We will never know. What I do know is that it is because of the circumstances forced upon me and how I reacted to all of them that you are right here in front of me. If I change even the smallest detail, there would be a possibility that you and I would have never met."

 

Harry smiled at him as he commented lightly, "Many would think of that as a good thing."

 

"For them, perhaps." Marvolo agreed before stopping right in front of a wall. He turned to stare at Harry as he whispered, "But one's happiness is the sorrow of another."

 

"You don't believe it's possible to make everyone happy?" Harry asked, tilting his head slightly.

 

"No." Marvolo replied immediately, "Humans are selfish creatures. Even I..."

 

Marvolo caressed Harry's cheek softly as he admitted, "I know my desire to have you as my consort is selfish. Many will disapprove of such a union."

 

"Between the Dark Lord's son and the Boy-Who-Lived?" Harry asked, lowering his hand so that he could intertwine it with Marvolo's other hand. Marvolo nodded and Harry wondered, "I suppose it wouldn't be the ending they desire. I know they already have an idea of what my future would be. I'd become an Auror like my father and marry a muggle-born or a Light-oriented witch. That would be the happy ending they created."

 

"But is that what you want?" Marvolo asked and Harry smiled softly at him.

 

Harry chuckled before replying, "Of course not. Why would I want to spend my entire life putting my life in the line for other people when they've never been there for me? Why would I become their saviour when no one bothered to be mine?"

 

Harry leaned forward, his chest pressing against Marvolo's as he whispered, "Why would I bother falling in love when no one ever loved me before?"

 

Marvolo placed his hands on Harry's waist as he asked, "Then why bother accepting my courting, Harry?"

 

Harry placed his hand by Marvolo's cheek, dragging his point finger from Marvolo's cheek towards his jaw as he replied, "Because you said you wanted to know me. Not as Harry Potter but as who I truly am."

 

Harry tilted his head as he mumbled, "There's something about you I don't understand. Considering our past, I shouldn't enjoy your company. I shouldn't feel such comfort around you. I shouldn't-"

 

"Are you saying you shouldn't because that's what you truly think or that's what others think?" Marvolo gently grabbed Harry's hand and whispered, "Because I find myself enjoying your company as well. Even if the entire world would shun me, I will still want you by my side."

 

Harry's lips curved into a grin as he whispered, "Then I look forward to seeing just how far you will go to have me."

 

A predatory smirk appeared on Marvolo's face as he whispered back, "I will not disappoint you, Harry."

 

Harry turned to face the wall and proclaimed, "Parseltongue."

 

The stone bricks began to move away, showing the Slytherin Common Room. Harry took a step forward but stopped in mid-step when he realized Marvolo wasn't moving. Marvolo kept his eyes forward as he ordered, "Leave us."

 

They waited for a few minutes before Marvolo finally stepped forward. Harry let Marvolo drag him inside, looking back in time to see the bricks move to cover the entrance. They began walking forward and Harry asked, "Are you sure it was a good plan to order Skeeter in such an open space?"

 

"The dungeons have no pictures to spy on us and I'm sure there was no one following us." Marvolo informed him before taking off his glamour. Harry watched as the mask called Marvolo Slytherin slowly disappeared and he came face to face with Voldemort. Voldemort led him towards the portrait of Salazar Slytherin and the founder's portrait stared at Voldemort as he greeted, "Salazar, it has been too long."

 

Salazar hummed before commenting, "I see you have let the darkness consumed you."

 

"I needed the power." Voldemort defended and Harry silently watched the two interact.

 

Salazar scoffed before asking in a slightly condescending tone, "Why? Did everything not go as plan, Tom?"

 

Voldemort glared at him as he hissed, "No, it did not, but that does not mean I'm wrong."

 

"Of course not." Salazar mocked, "You're never wrong, are you, Tom? No matter how foolish or unnecessary your actions may be, you will never be wrong. You're incapable of being wrong."

 

Voldemort took a step forward before sneering, "If you're just going to annoy me then Harry and I will be leaving now."

 

"Oh, Harry would very much like to stay and watch this family drama." Harry chirped, grinning at them.

 

Voldemort turned to glare at him while Salazar drawled, "Listen to your fiancé, Tom. He clearly sees the bigger picture."

 

"All he sees are opportunities to annoy and tease people." Voldemort turned to hiss at Salazar before glaring back at Harry as he hissed, "You're supposed to be siding with me, my dear."

 

"And miss the chance of seeing you get scolded by someone? Sorry, Love Tart, you're on your own in this one." Harry continued to grin as he clarified, "If it makes you feel any better, I'm not exactly siding with Salazar as well. I'm merely an observer."

 

Salazar chuckled before commenting, "I must say, Tom, I approve of your choice. You've chosen the most interesting Black I have ever seen for a very long time."

 

Harry frowned slightly while Voldemort turned to stare at the portrait. Before anyone could reply to Salazar's comment, Salazar asked Voldemort, "Have you taken the Slytherin lordship?"

 

"No. I haven't had enough time to visit Gringotts and process everything." Voldemort replied but continued to glare at his ancestor.

 

Salazar hummed for a moment before suggesting, "Do not practice any magically strenuous activity the day before. You would need all of your magical reserve."

 

Harry tilted his head and Voldemort frowned as he asked, "Am I going to perform a magically strenuous activity in receiving my Head ring?"

 

Salazar raised an eyebrow as he asked back in a mocking tone, "Do you honestly think I wouldn't make my descendants' life miserable from beyond the grave?"

 

Harry grinned as he commented, "I like him more and more."

 

"What did you do, Salazar?" Voldemort hissed in an annoyed tone.

 

Salazar shrugged before nonchalantly replying, "Nothing much. I have just developed a series of trials to test the magical potential as well as mental and emotional stability of the supposed 'Head'."

 

"Why would you do that?!" Voldemort hissed angrily.

 

"In all honesty?" Salazar shrugged as he replied, "Delphi and I were bored and our oldest son was having his rebellious phase."

 

Voldemort stared at his ancestor ludicrously while Harry furrowed his brows as he thought about Salazar's reasoning. Voldemort began rubbing the bridge of his nose and Harry could feel the forming headache coming from Voldemort. Voldemort closed his eyes and tried to rein his fury while Harry asked, "Let me get this straight. Your son was being a total pain in the arse so you and your wife-"

 

"Husband." Salazar corrected nonchalantly.

 

"Husband." Harry repeated, realizing Salazar was most probably talking about the other man in the unfinished portrait in the Chambers. Now that Harry thought about it, that made more sense since that man was wearing the Ouroboros bracelet in the portrait. 

 

Who names their son 'Delphi'?!

 

Harry cleared his throat before continuing to summarize what Salazar just said, "-cooked up a series of trial that will most probably be dangerous for your descendants?"

 

Salazar stared at Harry for a moment before replying nonchalantly, “Oh, you don’t need to worry. Tom will be fine. We've included safety precautions so he won't die."

 

Salazar narrowed his eyes at Voldemort as he added in a scolding tone, "Of course, that's not counting the obsession that had consumed Tom to ensure death never claims him completely."

 

Voldemort glared at the portrait while Harry asked, "So what's the worst thing that can happen to him in this trial?"

 

Salazar thought about it for a few seconds before replying, "Hallucinations, I suppose. Oh, no. Castrations."

 

Voldemort and Harry stared at the portrait with wide eyes while Salazar added with a shrug, "Delphi's idea. He thought anyone who is idiotic enough to fell for his trap would be doing the world a favour by not having offspring."

 

Harry turned to stare at Voldemort and commented with a shrug, "Okay, this Delphi is starting to sound very interesting now."

 

Salazar scoffed before commenting, "Of course you would think that. He's your ancestor."

 

Harry tilted his head to stare at Salazar as he asked, "He is?"

 

"His full name is Delphinus Slytherin nee Black." Salazar stared at Harry as he asked, "You've never heard of him from your parents or your Black ancestors' portraits?"

 

"I wasn't raised by my parents." Harry shrugged as he added, "I only heard I had Black blood from your descendant a few weeks ago."

 

Harry took a step towards the portrait as he added, "And I'm curious how you knew I was a Black."

 

Salazar's tone was soft as he commented, "Your eyes are the same as my dear Delphi."

 

"My eyes?" Harry repeated, frowning slightly as he remembered, "They say I have the same eyes as my mother. She's a muggle-born."

 

"Then perhaps she has Black blood running in her veins as well. A squib from a branch family of House Black could easily be one of her ancestor. Or people simply want to see a resemblance and fooled themselves into believing you have the same hue." Salazar suggested before pointing, "Your eyes have the same colour as the Killing Curse. Only the blessed members of House Black have such colour."

 

"What do you mean by blessed?" Harry pressed.

 

"The colour of your eyes means you can access a rare branch of magic coveted by many.” Salazar's lips curved into a smirk that reminded Harry too much Voldemort when he was about to say something that amuses him (and most probably provide despair for others), "Necromancy, child. You have necromantic magic." 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It was hinted in Siri's one-shot and pretty much shown in A Single Change but here we have confirmation that Harry does have Necromancy magic. Will Harry pursue this? Well... stay tune and find out. XD
> 
> The said incident is actually written in Musing of a Diary Horcrux


	26. The Truth About the Ritual

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I made a grammatical error concerning 'necromancy'. If I add 'magic', it should be 'necromantic magic' so I updated the last chapter and ASC to reflect that. 
> 
> Thanks to Infestation for correcting me. ^w^
> 
>  
> 
> Warning:  
> 1 unbeta'ed as usual  
> 2 Voldemort and Salazar bicker like some kind of father-son combo, much to Harry’s amusement  
> 3 Backstories ahoy!

Harry stared at the portrait for a moment, noticing the angry frown on Voldemort’s face. Now that he realized it, Harry was able to discern what kind of frown Voldemort was making. The difference was subtle, mostly the degree of the Dark Lord’s brows and how curved his lips would become but still, it was a useful tool in his arsenal at the moment. The better his mood, the easier Harry could have his way. At that thought, Voldemort turned to raise an eyebrow at him. Harry just grinned at him, wiggling his eyebrows as if a silent challenge for Voldemort to try and refute his musing. When Voldemort only shook his head in resignation, Harry turned towards the portrait and asked, “What do you mean by… this necromancy thing? Like I can have my own Night of the Living Dead?”

 

When both Slytherins continued to stare at him with furrowed brows, he clarified, “It’s an American cinema about zombies. I forgot you two are old.”

 

"My age has nothing to do with this. I simply do not waste my time watching muggle cinemas." Voldemort drawled.

 

"You should. They're good.” Harry commented with a shrug, “Better than Wizarding entertainment..."

 

"You just don't know where you find good Wizarding entertainment." Voldemort argued with a roll of his eyes.

 

"Of course the big bad Dark Lord would know where the best Wizarding entertainment is." Harry chuckled and shook his head.

 

“I am unfamiliar with the words ‘zombie’ and ‘cinema’.” Salazar interrupted their light bantering but his attention was solely on Voldemort.

 

“A zombie is commonly described as a moving corpse with a distinct desire for flesh. A cinema is a muggle invention that shows a visual and audio recording on a screen.” Voldemort informed his ancient ancestor.

 

Salazar hummed in understanding while Harry asked Voldemort, “The magical world doesn’t have zombies?”

 

“There are many magical creatures that desire flesh and the concept of a reanimated corpse is most commonly known as an Inferius.” Voldemort informed Harry, “Necromancy is well known as a failed branch of magic. Practitioners of the Dark Arts have varying understanding of what a necromancer can and cannot do. Some think a necromancer can talk to the souls of the departed. Others think they can revive the dead. There are those who also believe a necromancer cannot die.”

 

Harry noticed the way Voldemort’s tone became more passionate as he continued, “No one truly knows if necromancy is even real. It’s a rumoured branch of magic as ancient and as mystical as the supposed land of Shambala. There are many writings and folklores of these supposed necromancers but no one has ever come forward to proclaim that they are a necromancer and have enough proof to justify their claim.”

 

Harry tilted his head as he asked, “Why are you so passionately against this?”

 

“Because necromancy is a myth!” Voldemort hissed, “A myth whispered in our ear to long for something unattainable!”

 

“Tom, calm down.” Salazar ordered, staring at his descendant, “Simply because you cannot become a necromancer does not mean it does not exist.”

 

“I am your descendant.” Voldemort hissed as he took a few steps toward his ancestor’s portrait, “The blood of your supposed beloved little necromancer runs in my vein as well so why is it that Harry who did not descend from him has necromantic magic in his core but I do not?”

 

“We cannot choose what our core is composed of.” Salazar reminded him patiently, “The necromantic magic has always been fickle in the Blacks. You have a higher chance of receiving necromantic magic if your parents were both magical Haitians than having both British necromancers as parents.”

 

Salazar turned to face Harry before explaining, “To become a necromancer, you must have necromantic magic. Necromantic magic is simply a term used for a genetic inheritance from a necromancer ancestor. Some use the term necromantic blood, mostly because muggle-borns and muggle-raised wizards and witches cannot fully wrap their muggle infested mind over the idea that there is magic inside them and its characteristics are passed down from our ancestors to our parents. For example, my core is Dark and my magic came from the Slytherin line, granting me Parseltongue and the ability to use Parselmagic. Of course, unlike the Slytherin line, not all descendants of a necromancer can have necromantic magic. It could be dormant or active but necromantic magic can only exist from the time the child is born or not at all.”

 

“Besides, necromancy was never about attaining immortality or talking to the dead.” Salazar informed them, “It has always been about reanimating corpses. Delphi spent his years experimenting on different ways to reanimate a container with no soul. He always insisted that returning someone back to life is not in the realms of necromancy but in the realms of soul magic.”

 

Salazar raised an eyebrow as he commented, “Something you of all people would know intimately.”

 

Voldemort glared at him while Salazar turned to face his descendant’s quiet companion before explaining, “Necromancy has been one of Tom’s earliest obsessions. As you most probably realize, Tom does not enjoy the idea of not knowing things.”

 

“Hurts his ego, I know.” Harry commented with a shrug, making Voldemort glare at him. Harry raised his hands in mock surrender as he continued, “I don’t see the problem though. I mean, considering we are going to be married the traditional magical way, wouldn’t that mean that my necromantic magic will be accessible to you as well?”

 

Voldemort’s brows furrowed as he thought about Harry’s words while Salazar asked, “You plan on marrying traditionally? I haven’t heard anyone do such an intimate ritual for centuries.”

 

Harry snorted before telling the portrait, “Funny story. I accidently did the Slytherin Binding Ritual-“

 

“You did?!” Salazar interrupted, a wide smirk appearing on his face.

 

“Well, I didn’t think it would bind me to your megalomaniac descendant.” Harry defended before complaining, “Which, by the way, reminds me. Couldn’t you have made the description of the said ritual more specific than just ‘<< to bind a Slytherin to you >>’?”

 

Salazar covered his mouth, his shoulders trembling as he tried to control his laughter. It didn’t work and, before Harry or Voldemort could react, Salazar began to laugh loudly, surprising the two. Salazar laughed for what could have been a minute or two, only managing to turn his loud laughter to gasping chuckle after a few more seconds. By that time, Voldemort was glaring murderously at the portrait and Harry was having a mental vision of different ways to destroy said portrait.

 

He especially liked the idea of violently swinging it all over the room before finally throwing it to the fire place.

 

The amount of violence in that idea was quite appealing.

 

“That ritual was a joke!” Salazar admitted, making Voldemort and Harry look at the portrait ludicrously. Salazar continued to snicker as he explained, “Many of my allies had been annoying me by my son’s lack of a consort for years and I was very close to actually torturing them. Delphi suggested I create a new ritual of my choosing to focus my attention elsewhere and keep me away from actually having to talk to my allies. That ritual was an experiment to finally force my son to marry someone and I knew theoretically it would work but I never tested it.”

 

Salazar shrugged as he added, “I also did not expect it to be used. That was the reason why I wrote the entire ritual in Parselscript. I thought my descendants who can read Parselscript would understand what the ritual do and be smart enough not to use it and be stuck with one of their relatives. Placing it in the chambers had been another safety precaution.”  

 

Salazar raised an eyebrow as he added, “I did not expect a descendant of mine to actually try the ritual and now he’s bound to one of my most promising but most troublesome descendant.”

 

Harry opened his mouth but Voldemort cut him off, “We’re not related.”

 

Salazar raised an eyebrow as he commented, “He can speak the serpent’s language.”

 

“We don’t know why he can speak it but I know for a fact that he is not directly related to me.” Voldemort corrected with a glare.

 

“He apparently has no interest in physical pleasure.” Harry repeated what Voldemort told him when he had asked if the Dark Lord had a tryst with Lily Potter before commenting, “I do think he has repressed his sexual desires.”

 

Voldemort turned to glare at Harry who grinned at him while Salazar deadpanned, “Oh, I believe he does as well. Unfortunately, none of these children were able to fully acquire his undivided attention.”

 

“He does seem like the type to play with his toys and then throw them away when he’s bored.” Harry commented with a shrug, earning a sagely nod from the portrait.

 

“Is this how this is going to go each time we talk with Salazar, my dear?” Voldemort hissed, grabbing Harry’s wrist. Harry simply blinked at him while he hissed, “Are you going to team up with this old man against me?”

 

Harry grinned at him and lightly patted his cheek as he cooed, “Don’t worry, Love Tart, we’re just playing around. It’s not every day that you get to see someone able to scold the big bad Dark Lord and honestly say what they think in front of him.”

 

Harry leaned closer and trailed his finger from Voldemort’s cheek to his jaw, mimicking his actions with Marvolo previously, as he added coyly, “Besides, he’s probably the closest father figure you ever had. I need to make a good impression to my in-laws now, don’t I?”

 

“He is not-“

 

“Denial.” Salazar cut his descendant off, making the Dark Lord turn to glare at him. He watched the two, noticing how Voldemort placed a hand by Harry’s waist, forcing the younger wizard to lean towards him. Salazar condescendingly admitted, “Unlike our dear Tom, I have no problems admitting that I consider him as a son, rather than a descendant.”

 

Salazar scoffed before adding, “He would have made a better heir to both me and Delphi instead of our real son.”

 

“Wow, just how problematic was your son?” Harry asked with a raised eyebrow.

 

“He married some German wizard he met during the Festival of Masks.” Salazar drawled, “We haven’t heard anything from him after that. Our daughter, on the other hand, married the son of a cousin of my mother.”

 

“Oh, your inbreeding started early, I guess.” Harry commented, noting the slight pressure on his waist as a silent reprimand.

 

Salazar sighed before admitting, “Yes, we did. In all honesty, I believe it’s mostly my fault. I spent so many years building this school and neglected my children. Delphi was the one who had to take care of them most of the time. He’s a good person but he is a Black.”

 

Harry and Voldemort stared at each other, unsure how to proceed with that information. Harry had minimal experience with consoling people and Salazar knew Voldemort too much to fall for his angelic Tom Riddle act. Thankfully, Salazar segued the conversation himself by nonchalantly commenting, “If you wish to pursue necromancy, child, then you should search the Black estates for books and journals pertaining to the art.”

 

Harry tilted his head as he asked, “Wouldn’t it be easier to just ask your husband?”

 

“You could.” Salazar nodded before adding, “But his portraits are scarce. The only portraits I know are the two in Slytherin manor and one portrait in one of the Black ancestral homes.”

 

Harry hummed before thinking out loud, “I wonder if I can access the Black estates though.”

 

“Orion gave me access when he was alive.” Voldemort informed Harry, “Walburga may not like me but Orion has always been a supporter to my cause. If Walburga or Dumbledore’s mutt hasn’t revoked that access yet, I can accompany you to the Black estates. At the very least, I know I have access to the main branch’s ancestral house in London.”

 

“You can also talk to Gringotts to grant you access to Alcor Black’s vault and properties.” Salazar suggested.

 

“Alcor Black?” Harry repeated the name.

 

“The first supposed Black necromancer.” Salazar explained, “Delphi would visit his estates once a week. It’s supposed to have an extensive library about Necromancy. I know, for a fact, that Delphi left most of his journals and findings in the manor before his death as well as everything belonging to the other previous Black necromancers.”

 

“And he kept the will intact?” Voldemort asked with a raised eyebrow, “None of these Black necromancers or even your little necromancer bothered updating the will or transferring the vault and the properties to their own name?”

 

“No.” Salazar shrugged as he admitting, “Delphi never bothered since it did show up in his personal properties after receiving it. I suppose there was a clause no one bothered to talk about how all of the properties and the vault would return to Alcor Black after the death of his descendants or perhaps it was already in Alcor Black’s will that it will return to his estates after the descendant has passed away.”

 

“You said most.” Harry cut in, “That means there are some he left elsewhere?”

 

“If there is an unfinished journal, it is most probably in the Slytherin manor.” Salazar explained before adding, “But I am unsure if he ever did have an unfinished journal. Even if he did, he probably hid it quite well.”

 

Harry frowned as he asked, “Why?”

 

“During the later years of our life, the ministry began hunting for certain Dark branches of magic. Necromancy was one of them.” Salazar explained with a hard cold expression, “That was the main reason why Delphi transferred all of his findings and books related to Necromancy to Alcor Black’s manor. The ministry didn’t know about the manor and they were already keeping a close eye on Delphi since he was rumoured to be a necromancer. Without evidence though, they could not prosecute the consort of one of Hogwarts’ founders.”

 

“Just how bad was this hunt?” Harry asked, wondering if it was as bad as the Salem witch hunts in America. He remembered reading about it in one of the more obscure history books in the library.

 

It may have been in the restricted section but no one needed to know about that.

 

It was Voldemort who explained, "Necromancy was declared as evil by the muggle-borns centuries before our time. The idea of manipulating and controlling the dead was considered vile and everyone who proclaimed they were necromancers was prosecuted. These alleged necromancers were hunted down and executed. That’s why it’s believed that necromantic magic died out or the art of necromancy is now dead. I suppose Salazar’s little necromancer didn’t get prosecuted because there was no real evidence he delved into necromancy."

 

Voldemort’s brows furrowed and Harry recognized it as the ‘curious’ and ‘thoughtful’ kind of frown which made Harry tilt his head towards him as he asked, “What are you thinking about?”

 

“I just remembered something Orion once told me.” Voldemort replied before explaining, “It was during the time I had been searching for more books about these supposed dead branches of magic. Orion told me about how one of their villas had a library filled with necromancy lore and studies. According to him, they had necromancer ancestors and they would hear stories of how one of them would pluck the eyes out of the misbehaving children and put them in his Inferius."

 

"Sounds like a lovely chap." Harry commented dryly.

 

"Orion says that the necromantic magic died out faster than their ability to change their appearance at will."

 

"They can what?" Harry blinked.

 

"Some Blacks before had the ability to change their physical appearance. Those that can are called Metamorphmagus." Voldemort briefly explained.

 

"Like your glamour?" Harry asked curiously

 

"Yes but it does not need any item. I suppose we can assume the creation of the glamour charm was inspired by the ability of a Metamorphmagus." Voldemort inferred.

 

"Wow. So not only could Sirius be a possible necromancer but he could also be a Metamorphmagus." Harry asked with raised brows.

 

"I highly doubt it. Everyone would have known by now if he was a Metamorphmagus. It's an ability that appears as early as infancy. As for necromantic magic, I suppose there is no way to know if he could have dormant necromantic magic."

 

Harry raised an eyebrow when Voldemort stopped talking, his lips forming a thin line as he stared at Harry's eyes. The silence etched for a few seconds before Voldemort finally commented, "Orion did say something peculiar about necromantic magic in the Blacks."

 

"Oh?"

 

"He said that all of their necromancer ancestors were said to have killing eyes."

 

"Killing eyes?" Harry repeated before turning to stare at Salazar as he remembered, “Salazar did say my eyes are the same colour as the killing curse.”

 

“I suppose a trip to Gringotts in now in order.” Voldemort commented with a soft sigh.

 

“For the Slytherin trial?” Harry asked for confirmation, tilting his head.

 

“No. That can wait.” Voldemort replied, “With the bind in full effect, it would be too dangerous to go with the Slytherin trials. We will go to Gringotts for our initial plan of emancipating you-“

 

“Oh yeah. I forgot about that.” Harry commented with shrug, making Voldemort roll his eyes.

 

“And we will ask the goblins for a blood heritage test for you. If you do have active necromantic blood, it will show in that test. If you do-“

 

“Your lack of trust in your ancestor’s words is astonishing, Tom.” Salazar drawled which Voldemort didn’t pay any attention to.

 

“Then we procure this supposed manor of Alcor Black.” Voldemort finalized, “And take all books, journals and findings related to necromancy.”

 

“You’re going to learn necromancy after our marriage?” Harry asked curiously.

 

“I would be too busy preparing for my return and ensuring your safety after Yule.” Voldemort smirked predatorily as he corrected, “You, on the other hand, will learn necromancy for me, my dear.”

 

“I will?” Harry blinked, not really opposed to it.

 

The idea of reanimating dead things to wreck chaos did sound appealing.

 

Voldemort placed his hands on Harry’s cheeks, forcing the young man to keep his eyes trained at Voldemort. There was a hint of giddiness (which sounded strange in Harry’s ears) in Voldemort’s tone as he whispered, “What better consort can the most powerful Dark Lord have but a mythical necromancer?”

 

“On the top of my head?” Harry grinned as he suggested, “A god.”

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Night of the Living Dead is a 1968 cinema directed by George Romero. If you’re a zombie fan like me, I suggest checking this and the rest of the Living Dead movie series if you haven’t already.
> 
> Alcor Black is an OC that was introduced in the ‘what if’ short-story ‘A Single Change’. I did say his backstory will have more impact on CaBR. XD


	27. A Bad Day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We interrupt your daily program to show an insight to our favourite Potions Professor

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning:  
> 1 unbeta'ed as usual  
> 2 switch to Snape’s POV because of… reasons  
> 3 Minimal dialogues  
> 4 Foreshadowing…?  
> 5 Voldemort is back to being Marvolo here again

Severus Snape was not having a good day. He woke up half an hour earlier than normal. He realized that the robes he had been wearing yesterday had a small but noticeable hole at the back, most probably from one of the explosive potions the second year dunderheads had been brewing that day. When he checked on the cauldrons in the adjoining private potions room, two of the cauldrons he had left simmering overnight were failures. A quick check indicated the first cauldron's fire was two degrees hotter than what it was supposed to be and the second cauldron had silver added in it. The amount of liquid silver would approximately be around thirty pieces if it was melted to the same diameter and weight as a sickle.

 

His cauldrons had been sabotaged. There was no way he could have made such a mistake in the first cauldron. The only way the silver could have gotten to the second cauldron was if Snape had intentionally put it in which he did not.

 

The first cauldron was unsalvageable. The second though... it had created a different potion altogether. It was a potion that would freeze the drinker's muscles, rendering them conscious but immobile for two hours. The amount of silver added was insufficient for the typical two hours. At most, it would have immobilized an adult for an hour.

 

Snape knew because he had learned of such a dark potion from the Dark Lord himself.

 

It could have been a coincidence. For all Snape knew, the melted silver could easily have been a symbol of the thirty silver coins Judas received for his betrayal.

 

But that would mean someone thought he betrayed someone. Did that person think he betrayed the Dark Lord? Or did they think he betrayed Dumbledore?

 

Since it was based on a muggle religion, there was a higher possibility of the saboteur being either a muggle-born or a muggle-raised half-blood or pure-blood. As far as Snape knew, the supporters of the Dark Lord were all pure-bloods or half-bloods raised in the magical world.  

 

At that thought, the image of a young boy with vibrant green eyes invaded Snape's mind.

 

Snape's lips curled into a deep frown, glaring at the second cauldron. It would just be like that brat (like his father) to prank a cauldron for fun. The boy and his Gryffindor friends had been hounding him for years. But how could they have found out the password to his personal quarters?

 

It seemed he needed to read the Golden Trio's minds once more.

 

Hopefully, Mister Weasley's mind wouldn't be too preoccupied by the different ways a woman can show her body in a flattering manner.

 

At that thought, Snape remembered his last venture in Potter's mind.

 

He was still traumatized by it. The very idea of Potter and the Dark Lord engaging in-

 

Ugh.

 

Snape couldn't even finish his thought.

 

He knew that teenagers were the strangest creatures but there has to be something terribly wrong if Potter's wet dreams consisted of the Dark Lord having his way with-

 

He was absolutely not going to finish that sentence.

 

Breakfast would be a good distraction and it would give him the opportunity to read the brats' mind for confirmation.

 

Walking out of the safety of his (compromised) private quarters prove to nail the very notion that today was just not a good day for Snape.

 

"Professor." Snape's lips curled into a small frown as he saw the acting king, Alastor Carrow, walk towards him with a small smirk playing on his face.

 

"Carrow." Snape greeted back. He sided with his snakes regardless of his personal feelings for them and Alastor Carrow was one of them. Being a fellow Death Eater, Snape knew the Carrows personally. They weren't nice by any means but they valued family above all else. Snape couldn't even remember how many times he had heard the two Carrows sing praises about their nephew Alastor Carrow or their older brother, Lord Carrow. The two idiots praised them like they were Merlin themselves.

 

And that was what always made Snape wary about Alastor Carrow. Even with the scandal the two Carrows had created due to their alleged loyalty and adamant defence of being under the Imperius curse, Lord Carrow managed to keep House Carrow away from the populace's ire. Not even Lucius Malfoy could handle a scandal like that with such finesse.

 

And Alastor Carrow has shown potential in his years in Hogwarts. He was one of the few who managed to keep the title of acting king even when they weren't in their last year in Hogwarts.

 

Not to mention...

 

Carrow offered a copy of the Daily Prophet as he suggested with a smirk, "It might be better to eat your breakfast inside the security of your quarters today, Professor."

 

He was a cocky brat.

 

Snape took the newspaper as he drawled, "I hardly believe anything this piece of foolish gossip print will make me-"

 

Snape's lips froze as he read the article on the page in front of him. It was clear from the way the newspaper had been folded that it wasn't the first page and Carrow had intentionally focused the article for Snape.

 

'Hogwarts Professor Personally Bullying Boy-Who-Lived'

 

Snape quickly skimmed the article. Rita Skeeter had managed to get information about the conversation Potter and Snape had yesterday, focusing on Potter's words of how Snape had hated him from the very beginning.

 

Snape gripped the newspaper tightly as the damn hyena managed to find out how he had acted towards Potter since his first year and his connection to both Lily and James Potter. Rita had made it sound like some sort of payback for James Potter's bullying and his falling out with Lily. She even speculated that Snape was in love with Lily.

 

What made Snape grow angrier had been the quote the reporter managed to get a quote from Petunia of all people.

 

_"That freak always followed her around like some kind of stray mutt and that witch indulged him because she had always wanted a puppy."_

 

How dare she insult Snape's friendship with Lily?

 

She had always been jealous of Lily. Their father had always doted on Lily and it only grew once Lily got her Hogwarts letter. Because of their father's obvious favouritism, their mother also doted on Lily more than Petunia.

 

She has always been a jealous insignificant muggle. Lily would use to tell Snape how Petunia would break her toys whenever she managed to get her little hands on them.

 

She hated Lily and even called Lily's beautiful vibrant green eyes as freaky-

 

Snape's grip on the newspaper tightened as he remembered another person with the same eyes. His breathing began to grow harder as he tried to rein his fury. He glared at Carrow and ordered, "Leave me be."

 

Carrow continued to stare at him with calculating dark eyes, an amused small smirk playing his lips. He bowed mockingly as he whispered, "As you wish, Professor."

 

Carrow had always been an observant young man and that fact infuriated Snape right now because he just knew that Carrow had planned the entire thing to gauge his reaction. And whatever Carrow had deduced from Snape's reaction, Snape knew he wouldn't like the consequences that were sure to follow.

 

He silently watched Carrow walk away, knowing that the Slytherin was deliberately walking slower than usual. The infuriating acting king had always been slyly disrespectful towards Snape, an obvious influence from Lord Carrow who obviously found his double-agent status a betrayal towards the Dark. Once the Carrow heir was no longer in sight, Snape quickly walked back inside his quarters. Once the magical door slammed shut behind him, Snape quickly walked towards the door to the right where his sleeping quarters were. Snape opened the door and went inside, not minding the loud bang the door emitted due to his hasty closing. Snape knelt by the side of the bed, taking his wand from the secret compartment of his robes. He quickly flicked in an upward motion twice before waving his wand in a circular shape towards the bed. He pressed the wand against the wooden frame of the bed before whispering the password, "Little emerald."

 

It had been the pet name Lily's father had for her. Only Lily's family and Snape knew about it. Snape heard an almost inaudible click from the bed and he placed his wand back inside his robes. He placed both hands on the wooden frame and pressed. The wooden frame of the left side of the bed fell towards Snape's hands. He placed the piece of wood on the floor before putting his hand inside the hollow space between the top and bottom frames of the bed. His fingers grazed against the paper and he grabbed it gently, slowly taking his hand out of the hollow space. Snape stared at the envelope in his hands, the curvy handwriting of his name written at the back of the letter.

 

He had received it two days before the Potters went into hiding. Back then, he had been too preoccupied trying to show the Dark Lord he was worthy of being part of his Inner Circle to read it.

 

He was also still bitter from their falling out and her marriage to Potter back then.

 

After her death, he just couldn't find the courage to read the letter.

 

What if it had been a cry for help?

 

What if reading this letter could have prevented her death?

 

What if... this letter would shed light to what Snape was supposed to do now?

 

Because, at this very moment, Snape had no idea how to proceed with his oath of protecting the Potter brat. He was changing too rapidly. The tournament and his falling out with his friends changed Potter too much for it to be normal. If Snape was being truthful, Potter's actions reminded him a bit too much of himself after his falling out with Lily.

 

It annoyed Snape how his fingers trembled as they slowly opened the letter. He took the letter out of the envelope, folding it open.

 

Lily's elegant writing greeted him like an old friend, the words torturing him like cold ice Crucio.

 

_My dear Severus,_

_I had wished to talk to you in person but this beautiful golden cage Dumbledore had provided for us prevents that._

_I have kept a terrible secret from you this entire time simply because my father had ordered me to._

_But now I am writing this letter to tell this secret to you, hoping that you would take this to your master._

_Perhaps if he knew of my secret_

 

With each passing word, Snape's heart began to beat faster and his breathing grew harder. He didn't want to believe what was written in this piece of paper in his hands. For he knew, if he believed it, then that would mean that...

 

... He could have prevented Lily's death.

 

Why? Why didn't he read this letter before?!

 

It was as if the entire universe had planned this entire thing. In his hands was the ultimate torture someone could give to him.

 

He could have saved Lily had he just read this letter earlier.

 

He could have saved Lily if he had given this letter to the Dark Lord.

 

Snape's trembling hands opened the envelope once more, finally noticing the two other folded pieces of paper inside. He took both of them out and saw that one was sealed with the name 'Harry' written on one side, just like Lily had written in her letter. The other paper had no markings and Snape unfolded it.

 

He gripped the paper tightly as he read the content and he felt as if his heart had stopped.

 

The contents of this paper could have saved Lily.

 

And now, these two pieces of paper could easily save or destroy her son.

 

Snape placed all three pieces of paper inside the envelope once more before taking his wand out. He casted the strongest notice-me-not charm he knew and added a curse that will burn the entire envelope and all of its contents if someone who wasn't Snape ever tried to open it. Once that was done, he placed the envelope on the inside compartment of his robes. With a flick of his wand, the wood returned to the frame with a click.

 

He walked out of his private quarters, not paying any heed to the discarded newspaper on the ground.

 

Never has Snape ever been so conflicted on what he should do now.

 

 

 

The first time Snape managed to catch a glimpse on the green-eyed menace of his life on this tiring day, he had been very, very uncomfortable close to the enigmatic Marvolo Slytherin.

 

Snape had checked with his contacts or, at the very least, the ones who didn't mind talking to him. No one even had an inkling that he existed. Even Lucius Malfoy was unable to get any real information from Lord Nott.

 

He wasn't exactly surprised.

 

Lord Nott had been a kind mentor before but the disappearance of the Dark Lord and the denial of the remaining Death Eaters' loyalty had driven a wedge between him and the others. Snape thought it was hypocritical of him considering he had also denied his loyalty but, if Marvolo Slytherin was who he says he is, then it is not really surprising that Lord Nott would think he had the right to condone everyone else. He would have prioritized the safety of the Dark Lord's son as a show of his loyalty.

 

Snape watched the interaction between the four, unable to hide his grimace as he noticed the casual way the Gryffindor interacted with Lord Nott. Lord Nott's respectful manners were a bit surprising but Snape noticed how the older wizard would sometimes glance at Marvolo Slytherin before talking to Potter. From that observation, Snape inferred that Marvolo Slytherin had talked to Lord Nott before on how to act around Potter.

 

Speaking of Marvolo Slytherin, there was something about him that just put Snape on edge. Perhaps it was the lack of information about the supposed son of the Dark Lord. Perhaps it was the glaring similarities between him and the Dark Lord, both physically and magically. Perhaps it was the close proximity between him and Potter. Perhaps it was the way the brat leaned on Marvolo while the older wizard kept one hand on Potter' back, just a few inches above what could only be described as being very scandalous. Perhaps it was the way he would stare at Potter with amused and gentle eyes. Regardless of the reason, Snape couldn't help but be on edge around Marvolo and that fact alone annoyed him.

 

The rest of the task was spent observing Marvolo from afar. He noticed how Marvolo held an air of polite attention towards the other champions. If it wasn't for his habit of whispering to Lord Nott every other minute, Snape would have fallen for the act. But when Potter entered the arena, Marvolo's eyes never wavered from Potter's form. Potter's strategy for tackling the dragon had been a surprise as well. He didn't expect someone like Potter to have the focus and the skill to perform an advanced charm spell at his age. The only people he had ever seen perform a multiple-targeted levitation charm had been the Dark Lord and Lily.

 

Snape didn't miss the way Potter had raised the golden egg while grinning at Marvolo Slytherin. He also didn't miss the small pleased smile that decorated Marvolo's face. The entire thing only made Snape more on edge than he already was. If he was any lesser man, he would have been panicking by now.

 

The sudden disappearance of Potter during the scoring wasn't exactly a surprise. (What was surprising was the fact that Igor had given Potter a perfect score like the rest of the judges, earning him first place.) He was just as troublesome as his father who believed the rules didn't apply to him. McGonagall had been fuming, uncharacteristically berating Madam Pomfrey for not looking after the brat.

 

When they found out from the youngest Weasley boy that Potter left with Lovegood, they went on search for Lovegood who they found had been chatting with Greengrass and her friends. He had noticed the growing closeness between Potter and Greengrass so it wasn't surprising. What was surprising was the addition of Carrow among the fourth years together with his best mate, Pucey. The smirk Carrow gave him made Snape want to search the cocky boy's mind but being the heir of a Dark family meant that he would have enough knowledge to know if someone was trying to read his mind.

 

Lovegood had told them she accompanied Potter till they met Marvolo Slytherin. Knowing that the boy was with that man did not sit well with Snape. As long as he didn't have enough information about Marvolo Slytherin, Snape will never be alright knowing they were together unsupervised.

 

It had been McGonagall who suggested that they were most probably in Hogwarts, talking about how Potter wanted to show the school to Marvolo.

 

They decided to split up and Snape was given the task of checking the dungeons. Snape didn’t know why in seven hells would the brat tour someone in the dungeons but dutifully carried his assigned area.

 

Wanting to cover all of his bases, no matter how impossible it may be, Snape checked the Slytherin common room.

 

That's where he found Potter and Marvolo, sitting by the fireplace. They were both sitting on the floor, facing the fireplace. Potter was resting his head on Marvolo's shoulder while Marvolo's hand caressed the younger wizard's hair. They seemed to be conversing in soft whispers and Snape quietly walked towards them, managing to catch Potter's words, "-and Dumbledore tells me I have to return there each summer for my own protection."

 

Snape froze at those words, watching the way Potter leaned closer to Marvolo. Marvolo's hand rested on Harry's waist and he whispered, "All of the greater good, I suppose."

 

"Hm?" Potter raised his head to stare at Marvolo.

 

"That's Dumbledore's mantra." Marvolo explained, "As well as Gellert Grindelwald's."

 

"Dumbledore shares the same mantra as the Dark Lord he defeated?" Potter asked, his voice laced with amusement, "Isn't that a bit strange?"

 

"I only heard about it from Theonel and he's not the best source of information concerning Dumbledore." Marvolo added with a shrug before continuing, "It seems like a fitting description of your situation: kept in the company of magic-hating muggles in exchange for protection from the Dark."

 

Potter snorted before musing, "When I was a kid, I often wondered if my uncle would finally kill me."

 

Marvolo turned to face Potter and Snape felt like he was drenched in ice-cold water at the nonchalant way Potter continued, "He never took it too far though. I mean, he did one time when child services came after I talked to the school's guidance councillor. The only reason why he stopped was because my aunt screamed for him to."

 

"Your aunt protected you?" Marvolo asked softly yet Snape could see the way his eyes had hardened. The light of the flickering flames created a red hue in Marvolo's eyes which only further put Snape in edge as he was reminded by the Dark Lord's own blood coloured eyes.

 

Potter scoffed once more before correcting, "She was worried about the scandal my death would create."

 

Potter shrugged as he added, "And how hard it would be to clean the mess."

 

Marvolo's grip on Potter's waist tightened while Snape's chest ached harshly. Marvolo rested his forehead against Potter's, his eyes trained at the younger wizard's own as he whispered something. It took a moment before Snape realized he was whispering in the serpent's tongue.

 

Potter's lips curved into a small smile as he hissed something back. They stared at one another for a few seconds before Marvolo finally pulled away, turning to face Snape. Snape stared back with a blank expression while Potter rested his chin on Marvolo's shoulder, staring at his professor as well.

 

"Professor." Potter greeted calmly.

 

Snape stared at the young heir, focusing on that unbearable messy hair before lowering his gaze to those beautiful nostalgic green eyes. Potter turned away and smiled at Marvolo. Snape barely heard Potter apologize to Marvolo for ending their 'tour', too preoccupied by the way he was quickly dismissed. There was no fire in Potter's eyes, none of that foolish Gryffindor bravado. Potter looked at him like he was nothing.

 

But what made Snape freeze was the way Potter looked at Marvolo. He had seen how those beautiful vibrant green eyes shone with such emotions and he hated it. He hated it because that was how Lily used to look at James Potter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, totally didn't write the entire letter. It will make another appearance though. XD


	28. Harry’s One True Love

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Heart-to-heart conversation with the person they least expected

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, this week’s updates may be shorter/have more grammatical errors and wrong spelling because I just found out some of the keys of my keyboard are not working (especially ‘e’, god damn it) so I’m borrowing my sister’s laptop to write this. (Meaning, I’m working with a deadline)  
> My replies to everyone’s comments will still continue. I’m just gonna use my phone (the screen isn’t as big as I prefer so I’m not gonna write on these updates with that one)
> 
> Warning:  
> 1 unbeta'ed as usual  
> 2 Dialogues ahoy

"I am here to escort Mister Slytherin out of Hogwarts." Snape announced and Harry tilted his head, resting the side of his head on Marvolo's shoulder in the process, as he heard the slight trembling in his voice.

 

He turned to look at Marvolo who nodded at him. They both stood and wrapped an arm around Marvolo's offered arm. At the narrowing of Snape's eyes, Harry stubbornly said, "I'll escort him out as well."

 

Snape's narrowed eyes trained on him which made Harry narrow his eyes as well. Strangely, Snape did not berate him or anything. He simply turned around silently, walking out of the room with his robes bellowing as usual. Harry and Marvolo turned to stare at one another before Marvolo shrugged. He began following the dour professor, dragging Harry with him. When they passed Salazar's portrait, they both nodded at the ancient wizard who simply raised an eyebrow at them.

 

They followed Snape out of the dungeons and into the courtyard. When he stopped by the arch leading to the courtyard, Marvolo and Harry stopped as well. Snape turned to face them and said, "The Headmaster is waiting for you in the courtyard, Mister Potter."

 

"He can wait until I've escorted-"

 

"The Headmaster insists that you see him as soon as possible." Snape cut Harry off, sounding agitated.

 

Harry opened his mouth to argue but stopped when Marvolo placed a hand over the arm Harry had wrapped around his arm. Harry turned to look at him with a small pout, making Marvolo's lips curved into a small smile as he gently whispered, "It's alright, Harry. I do not wish to you get you in more trouble than I already have."

 

"It's no trouble at all, Marvolo." Harry insisted, leaning closer to Marvolo which caused Snape to glare at both of them. Harry rested his left temple on Marvolo's arm and looked up to stare at Marvolo's eyes as he whispered, "I want to spend more time with you."

 

"I'll return next Saturday, Harry." Marvolo gently reminded him as he slowly pulled away. Their lopped arms dropped and Marvolo stared at Harry silently for a moment before gently caressing his cheek. His lips curved into a small smile as he said, "I'll see you soon, my dear Harry."

 

Neither noticed Snape's posture become rigid at the possessiveness that seeped in Marvolo's gentle words.

 

Harry leaned against the hand by his cheek, whispering softly, "Take care, my sweet Marvolo."

 

They both smiled at one another and Marvolo caressed Harry's cheek with his thumb thrice before finally dropping his hand. He turned to face Snape and nodded. Snape stared at Harry for a moment, feeling the familiar aching of his chest at the way Harry kept his beautiful vibrant green eyes on Marvolo's form. Without a word, Snape turned around and began walking once more. Marvolo turned his head to face Harry once more and nodded with a small smile. Harry returned it with a soft smile of his own and watched as Marvolo faced forward and followed Snape. Harry watched the two, feeling his magic slowly return in his core, making him feel sluggish.

 

He wanted to walk the other way, let Dumbledore wait in the bloody courtyard alone but he noticed that Rita's animagus form had stayed with him, flying around the arch.

 

He wished he could just stun the damn bug but a scoop concerning the Headmaster would most certainly be emblemised and twisted to suit their side.

 

So he walked into the courtyard and steeled himself.

 

… which did nothing since Harry wanted to walk away when he saw the headmaster but Dumbledore turned his head towards him at that moment and smiled, patting the empty space next to him. Next to that empty space was the golden egg Harry left in the infirmary. He supposed the golden egg was his now?

 

Which, by the way, was creepy.

 

What the hell was he supposed to do with that egg anyway?

 

Left with no choice (not really), Harry walked towards Dumbledore and sat next to him, making sure he was sitting on the other end of the bench. Dumbledore didn't seem to be offended by the distance and he simply stared in front of him as he said, "Everyone was worried when you disappeared, Harry."

 

Harry stared at one of the trees littering the courtyard as he commented, "It's funny how you all worry only when it inconveniences you."

 

Dumbledore turned to look at Harry sadly as he gently reprimanded, "You must not think like that, Harry. There are those who care-"

 

"Anyone who cared enough for me would know they didn't need to worry just because I skipped the scoring." Harry cut him off, keeping his eyes on the tree.

 

"Even if we know there's nothing to worry about, it doesn't mean we can simply stop worrying." Dumbledore sagely said. Harry bit the inside of his mouth to stop the snarky retort he wanted to say. He had a feeling Voldemort would not approve if Harry showed what he really felt to the headmaster and Rita wouldn't be able to help but add it in her article if she heard it. Dumbledore turned to stare at Harry with gentle eyes, "I know how you're feeling right now."

 

Harry highly doubted that. He took a deep breath, closing his eyes as he felt his magic stir, announcing Voldemort's return.

 

... That was quick.

 

Did he give Snape the slip or something?

 

Harry opened his eyes and wondered where the Dark Lord was hiding now. Even though Luna had said that not even Dumbledore can see under the cloak, he knew Voldemort would not risk exposure.

 

So there was a high chance he was behind them.

 

"You think that everyone has abandoned you so you clung to the first person to hold out their hand to you." Dumbledore gently summarized.

 

"But you don't believe everyone abandoned me." Harry concluded in a bland tone.

 

"We would never abandon you, my boy." Dumbledore stated before gently stating, "You're letting your anger control you. You must listen to me, Harry-"

 

"Please stop, Professor." Harry cut him off, finally turning to stare at him, "You and I have already stated where we stand in regards to Marvolo. I can't change your mind and you can't change mine. We can keep returning to the same defences and the same warnings but we both know we won't be able to change each other's mind."

 

Harry looked back at the tree as he added in a slightly sarcastic tone, "I had assumed you of all people would give Marvolo a chance."

 

Dumbledore stared at Harry for a moment, taking in the slightly narrowed eyes that glared at the tree. Dumbledore sighed then turned to stare at the same tree as well as he asked, "Will you humour this old man's rambling then?"

 

"If you ramble about Marvolo, I'm leaving." Harry warned.

 

Dumbledore nodded before starting, "There was a young man who had a sister and a brother. His parents had already left and his sister could not take care of herself thus it was his job to take care of her."

 

Dumbledore glanced at Harry but the boy kept staring at the tree so he continued, "One summer, he met a young man. He was around the same age as him and the nephew of their neighbour. He was a charming young man with a beautiful smile and a magic as alluring as a flame to the moths. The two young men became friends and it didn't take long for the young man to fall in love with him."

 

"Which one?" Harry interrupted, making Dumbledore stare at him once more. Harry kept his eyes at the tree as he explained, "There are two young men in your story."

 

"Ah, of course. It does get confusing, doesn't it?" Dumbledore commented with twinkling eyes. Harry just shrugged.

 

"Let's see then. Let's call the young man taking care of his sister as... Brian while the charming young man as..." Dumbledore hummed for a moment, making Harry narrow his eyes as he remembered that Brian was one of Dumbledore's first names.

 

Was he... talking about his own experience?

 

"Gerard... let's call him Gerard." Dumbledore nodded at himself before continuing, "Now then, where was I? Ah, yes. Brian fell in love with Gerard and he wanted Gerard to love him back. His love for Gerard consumed him and his entire life started to revolve around Gerard. He forgot about his responsibility to his family. All that mattered was Gerard. They started making plans of making the world a better place, of recreating it to their liking."

 

Harry was starting to see where Dumbledore was going with this.

 

Dumbledore's eyes softened as he continued in a soft sad tone, "They planned on leaving their homes and creating their own army, start the revolution for the betterment of the Magical World. Then, one day, Brian's brother learned of their plans and confronted them both. His brother reminded him of his responsibility to their family and the foolishness of their plans. Gerard grew angry and tortured his brother."

 

"Brian didn't think. He instinctively protected his brother." Harry finally turned to stare at Dumbledore but the headmaster was too lost in his story, staring sadly at the tree as he continued, "All three of them began to duel. Brian didn't know how to stop any of them. The most he could do was protecting his brother from Gerard's anger while protecting Gerard from his brother."

 

"It ended when one of the spells killed their sister by mistake." Dumbledore's voice cracked for a moment as he continued, "No one knew who had done it. No one ever found out who it was. Brian was devastated and he shut everyone out, even Gerard. Brian spent months drowning in his isolation and it was during those months that Gerard left. He didn't even say goodbye, not even a letter."

 

"When Brian finally realized he needed to move on, to make amends... to make everything right..." Dumbledore paused. He closed his eyes as he concluded, "Gerard was long gone."

 

Dumbledore opened his eyes and turned to stare at Harry as he continued, "The next time he heard of Gerard, Gerard had continued their foolish plans. He had begun his path of destruction and that's when Brian realized that Gerard had simply used him, manipulated Brian's feelings for him to make him blindly follow Gerard."

 

Dumbledore's eyes were filled with sorrow as he whispered, "Love can make us blind to the monster hiding underneath a beautiful smile."

 

Harry stared at Dumbledore for a moment, making sure to never stare right into his eyes. He observed the wrinkles of Dumbledore's face, the glistening of those blue eyes before finally tilting his head as he asked, "Was he sure?"

 

"What do you mean, Harry?" Dumbledore asked.

 

"Was he sure that Gerard only used him?" Harry clarified.

 

Dumbledore frowned slightly as he gently said, "My boy, no matter how hard we wish for a better explanation, sometimes the truth-"

 

"-is not what it seems." Harry cut him off. He turned to face the tree as he stated, "According to your story, Gerard left while Brian was drowning himself in guilt and closing himself from everyone else. Even if he wanted to say goodbye, would Brian even meet him?"

 

"I-"

 

"What if he did try to see Brian before he left but Brian did not want to see him?" Harry suggested before adding, "Not to mention, Brian most probably lived with his brother who did not like Gerard. What if Gerard tried to talk to Brian but he was stopped by his brother who could have said Brian didn't want to see anyone or he could have exaggerated and said Brian did not want to see Gerard specifically."

 

Dumbledore's eyes widened at the implication but Harry continued, "Gerard could have also left a letter for Brian but it was never delivered to Brian. Gerard's relatives could have not sent it or Gerard could have left it with Brian's brother who never gave it to Brian."

 

Harry turned to stare at Dumbledore as he asked, "Did Brian ever asked?"

 

"He did." Dumbledore's lips slightly trembled as he admitted, "Gerard said he left a letter..."

 

"But Brian didn't believe him." Harry concluded, staring at Dumbledore as he mused, "Have you ever wondered why Brian didn't believe him that time?"

 

"That's because Brian realized that Gerard only used him." Dumbledore repeated but his words seemed to waver this time.

 

"Because the truth would have been too painful." Harry retorted, "It would have been too painful to face the fact that, this entire time, the one keeping them apart was himself. It was easier to believe he left because he didn't care than accept that he waited, he waited this entire time for you to come to him."

 

Harry turned to face Dumbledore and asked, "Did you ever ask your brother if Grindelwald ever left a letter?"

 

Dumbledore stared back at him silently for a few seconds before asking, "How did you realize?"

 

" Brian is one of your first names, Professor." Harry replied with a shrug, "Gerard is a pretty close name to Gellert and you did talk about a revolution of some sort. Some would say that Grindelwald's conquest would be a revolution."

 

"How very insightful of you, my boy." Dumbledore commented with a light chuckle.

 

"Thanks." Harry drawled before turning to face the tree once more as he repeated, "Did you ask?"

 

"No." Dumbledore admitted, "I had assumed he had lied."

 

"You assumed he was trying to control you through your feelings." Harry corrected, earning a grave nod from his headmaster. Harry stood and grabbed the golden egg between them as he said, "Everyone who knows me in the Muggle world assume I'm a problematic child because that's what the Dursleys tell them. They believe them without even trying to know me."

 

Harry tilted his head and stared at Dumbledore as he mused, "You're doing the same thing with Grindelwald. You don't have any proof he didn't write that letter."

 

"I also have no proof that he did." Dumbledore defended weakly, almost as if he was trying to convince himself.

 

Harry's lips curved into an amused smile as he retorted, "Then find your proof, Professor. Find the letter. Ask Grindelwald when and how he gave the letter then find it. If it exists, you should be able to find it."

 

Dumbledore shook his head as he asked, "What good would it do?"

 

"You would have your proof of Grindelwald's true nature." Harry replied, turning away from Dumbledore as he said, "If the letter doesn't exist then that means Grindelwald was the monster you believe him to be. If the letter exists then that would mean..."

Harry's lips curved into a sadistic smirk as he whispered, "You betrayed the man who loved you."

 

Harry waited for a few seconds for Dumbledore to say anything. When he didn't, Harry nodded to himself and said without looking back, "Good luck, Professor."

 

Harry walked out of the courtyard, not noticing (not that he would care) that Rita had flied off to find more juicy evidences of this new revelation, and walked towards the adjoining hallway. He stared straight ahead as he hissed, "<< Did you know about his past with Grindelwald? >>"

 

"<< No. >>" Voldemort hissed on his right, "<< But I applaud you for being able to change the subject towards his past. >>"

 

Harry scoffed before hissing back, "<< It's his own fault for using a true story to try and make me see the 'truth'. >>"

 

Voldemort hissing chuckle made Harry grin. Harry turned right at the intersection and began walking towards Moody's (Barty's) personal quarters. When he took the next right turn, he saw Luna leaning by the wall on the right. He raised an eyebrow while Luna smiled dreamily at him as she stood. She curtsied as she announced, "I am here to escort you to our celebratory tea party, My Lord."

 

Harry chuckled and threw the egg at Luna who caught it as he said, "Lead the way then, my dear."

 

Harry followed Luna out of the castle and into the grassy field next to the Great Lake where a bigger glass table had been placed. Daphne's allies were already there together with Daphne and Theo although Zabini was, surprisingly, absent. What was more surprising was that both Carrow and Pucey were also there. They all stood when Harry and Luna were nearing them and Theo pulled the chair next to the empty chair on his left. Harry nodded at him before sitting on the offered chair. Theo bowed lightly before taking a step back to his seat. Harry nodded at all of them as he said pleasantly, "Please, sit."

 

Everyone but Daphne took a seat. As the hostess began pouring tea in the individual teacups, Harry glanced around. Harry was seated between Luna and Daphne. On Luna's right was Theo while there were two empty seats on Daphne's left. After those two empty seats was Lils with Tracy on her left. Millicent was on Tracey's left while Carrow sat between Pucey and Millicent. As Daphne began placing the tea cups in front of everyone, she said with a smile, "Congratulations on your awe-inspiring performance, Lord Harry."

 

Harry smiled at Daphne as he said, "Thank you, Daphne. Actually, it was Marvolo's idea."

 

Finished with giving each one a cup, Daphne sat back and turned to face Harry, "Lord Slytherin gave you the idea?"

 

Harry chuckled softly, shaking his head. He took a sip of his tea before-

 

Dear Merlin, where does Daphne get her tea?

 

They're all delicious but this one was definitely the best one yet. There was a subtle hint of strawberries which enhanced the tea's flavour.

 

Outwardly, Harry simply took his time, placing the tea cup back in its coaster before informing them, "Marvolo taught me when we went out last Monday."

 

More like, Voldemort let him practice, giving notes like "you need to focus more", "you're focusing too much", "try moving one of them without letting the rest fall" and, Harry's favourite, "for the last time, Harry, stop floating the books to form a random object and focus!".

 

"He must have been a very talented teacher to be able to teach you such an advanced spell in one day." Daphne noted pleasantly.

 

"He is." Harry nodded, smiling at Daphne.

 

Before they could continue their conversation, Zabini walked towards them and said, "Apologies for the tardiness, Lord Harry."

 

They all turned around and Harry's eyebrow rose when he saw Parkinson behind Zabini. Zabini smiled at Harry and placed a hand on Parkinson's back, forcing the girl to move forward, as he said, "I saw Pansy walking out of the library and invited her to join us for tea."

 

Zabini charmingly smiled at Harry as he asked, "Would that be alright, Lord Harry?"

 

Harry offered his hand towards the two empty seats as he said, "The more, the merrier."

 

Zabini bowed lightly as he said, "Thank you, Lord Harry."

 

Parkinson stared at Zabini as he pulled the chair next to Lils. Parkinson sat elegantly and two new tea cups popped right in front of Daphne at the same time a plate of treacle tart popped in front of everyone. Harry happily digged in while Zabini asked, "What did we miss?"

 

"Lord Harry was just telling us of how it had been Lord Slytherin's idea to use a highly advanced charm spell for the first trial." Tracey summarized with an interested tone.

 

"Is that right?" Zabini asked.

 

"I saw Lord Slytherin in the stands talking to Lucius Malfoy and Lord Nott." Lils added and Harry raised an eyebrow at the lack of 'proper' title for Lucius but kept quiet, letting the baby snakes talk in peace, "He was quite a handsome wizard."

 

Lils blushed and added shyly as she stared at Harry, "Not that I mean to stare at the man courting you, My Lord."

 

Harry smiled at Lils and said, "It's alright to appreciate his physical appearance, Lils."

 

Lils returned the smile with a slightly wobbly one and Millicent took hold of the conversation while Harry finished his first slice, "It was quite interesting to see the three of them together. I wonder what they talked about."

 

"Politics, perhaps." Tracey guessed at the same time a new slice of treacle tart popped on Harry's plate before correcting, "Or Lucius Malfoy could have been trying to gain a favourable relationship with Lord Slytherin."

 

Parkinson elegantly snorted.

 

... and Harry was actually impressed that she could elegantly snort.

 

He needed to learn how to do that.

 

Zabini smiled at Parkinson and asked, "What do you think, Pansy?"

 

Parkinson's eyes widened and she whipped her head to stare at Zabini. Zabini simply smiled at her and Parkinson turned to stare at her tea. She placed both hands on the tea as Harry watched her, taking another bite of the sinful goodness. Parkinson took a deep breath before raising her head as she commented, "I just think that Lucius Malfoy is fighting a losing battle if he's trying to gain a favourable standing in Lord Slytherin's eyes. Po-"

 

Parkinson paused, took another deep breath, before continuing, "Lord Harry has been a target of the Malfoy's ire since the first year. If they want to gain a favourable standing in Lord Slytherin's eyes then they better start gaining Lord Harry's favours first."

 

Carrow leaned in his seat, smirking at Parkinson while Harry ate almost half of his current slice as the acting king said, "I agree with Parkinson. Lucius Malfoy need to repair the damages he and his son have created in regards to their relationship with Lord Harry first."

 

Harry ate another slice before asking, "What makes you think that Marvolo would not find the Malfoys' favourable?"

 

Carrow raised his eyebrows and smirked at Parkinson who sat straighter as she replied, "Lord Slytherin is courting you traditionally, not like that pathetic muggle way. That would mean that he is serious about marrying you and it would be foolish to favour people his future spouse despises."

 

"I don't despise the Malfoys." Harry corrected, eating another slice as everyone raise an eyebrow at him (except Luna who was busy rolling the egg on her lap) before continuing, "Despising them means I care about who they are and, trust me, I don't. I just... don't like being near them. Like cockroaches, I don’t despise them but I don’t want to be near them."

 

Harry narrowed his eyes when he mentally heard something akin to a snort.

 

"That should be enough for Lord Slytherin to think twice before mingling with the Malfoys." Parkinson commented.

 

"It seems that the hierarchy of the Dark will be reshuffled soon." Carrow commented with a smirk just as Harry finished his current slice.

 

Daphne refilled Harry's tea while Theo turned towards Carrow, asking in a polite tone, "What makes you so sure about that, Carrow?"

 

Carrow smirked at Theo as he replied, "We all know what Lord Slytherin's appearance represents for the Dark."

 

Parkinson's eyes widened as she stared at Carrow who smiled amusedly at her as he said, "Relax, Parkinson. We're all of similar standings here and..."

 

Carrow turned towards Daphne as he continued, "I'm sure our lovely Lady Greengrass has already ensured the security of our tea party."

 

Daphne smiled at everyone as she proclaimed, "Only those sitting in our table would be able to hear our conversation."

 

Parkinson slightly relaxed but her eyes turned towards Harry who simply began eating his new slice. It was Millicent who asked, "Does Lord Slytherin wish to continue his father's work?"

 

Silence overtook the table and all eyes turned towards Harry who had just finished eating the slice. Harry smirked at them and asked, "What makes you think I know what he plans to do?"

 

Millicent's cheeks reddened and she stuttered, "Fo-forgive me, Lord Harry. I had foolishly assumed that-"

 

Harry chuckled, slicing his new piece which made Theo look at the treacle tart with fear in his eyes, before saying in an amused tone, "Relax, Millicent. I don't mind the question."

 

"Honestly?" Harry hummed, piercing the piece with his fork, before continuing, "I have no idea what Marvolo has plans in concern with the Magical community."

 

That was entirely true since Voldemort never bothered to explain any of his plans not related to Harry's safety and Harry could care less if Voldemort wanted to burn the entire community down while singing and playing the lyre.

 

... Did Voldemort even know how to play a musical instrument?

 

Harry blinked when he mentally saw a young handsome boy playing the piano but the image disappeared too fast for Harry to react.

 

He did recognize the piercing blue eyes and wavy black hair though.

 

Before they could ask Harry about his disinterest towards the future of the Magical community, they heard someone shout, "There's Harrykins!"

 

Pucey's head whipped towards the voice so fast Harry swore he heard the sound barrier get broken. Everyone turned towards the voice (except Luna who had begun floating the egg on top of her head) and watched the Weasley twins jog towards their tea party. Just a few feet behind them was a confused and slightly wary Hermione.

 

The twins reached the table first and the twins stared at each person. When their eyes trained towards Pucey who was covering his face, they grinned.

 

"Oh bloody hell." Pucey groaned.

 

"Hey, If it isn't Dri-dri!" Fred (or who Harry was now mentally calling Fred) cheerfully said.

 

"And Ally!" George added when he noticed Carrow, making Carrow roll his eyes. Both twins immediately walked towards the two.

 

"Fred. George." Carrow greeted with a nod.

 

"We didn't know you were friends with Harrykins!" Fred commented, patting Pucey's back then kept it there.

 

"Weasley, remove your hand or, I swear, I will curse it off." Pucey hissed as he glared at Fred.

 

Carrow raised his eyebrows as he commented, "He does know the hand severing curse."

 

"Why would you know that?" George asked at the same time Harry let out an interested "Oh?"

 

Pucey glared at George as he snarled, "I accidently stumbled upon it while looking for the kitchen in our manor. How do you think I know it?"

 

Carrow's lips curved into a smirk as he commented, "He does have a bad sense of direction."

 

Pucey's cheeks reddened as he hissed, "Alastor!"

 

Carrow shrugged as he said, "You do. I had to hold your hand the first two months when you became a prefect."

 

"Aaaawww." The twins cooed, leaning close to Alastor as they said, "Little itty-bitty Dri-dri..."

 

"... holding hands with..."

 

"Big brother Ally-"

 

"He wasn't literally holding my hand!" Pucey defended which made Alastor cover his mouth. He pointed at his supposed best mate and hissed, "You shut it, Alastor!"

 

"Oooohhh, what's this?" Fred poked Pucey's reddened cheeks, "Is Dri-dri keeping a secret?"

 

"Maybe something concerning holding hands?" George poked Pucey's cheeks as well as he mused, "Or maybe concerning Ally?"

 

Pucey slapped both of their hands off and hissed, "That's it!"

 

"And that would be our cue to leave." Carrow stood, grabbing George's shoulder and pulling him away from Pucey as he gently said, "The key to getting Adrian to like you is to be gentle when handling him."

 

Pucey stood and glared at Carrow who simply smirked and patted his cheek as he gently said, as if placating a wild animal, "Relax, Adrian. The twins are just fooling around, like usual."

 

Pucey's glare intensified and Carrow patted his cheek once more before turning to face Harry. He bowed lightly as he said, "Forgive me, Lord Harry-"

 

Hermione turned to stare at Carrow with slightly wide eyes.

 

"-but we must be going now." Carrow's lips curved into an amused smile as he explained, "We do need to start our rounds."

 

"Does that mean we have to end our tea party?" Harry asked with a tilt of his head.

 

Carrow shook his head and replied, "I'm in charge of the rounds around here and I'll pass by the courtyard in about... perhaps an hour? What happens between the time I make my rounds and before I reach the courtyard is none of my concern."

 

Harry grinned as he said, "Thanks, Carrow."

 

Carrow bowed once more as he said, "It's my pleasure, Lord Harry."

 

Carrow placed a hand on the back of Daphne's seat and said, "Thank you for inviting us, Lady Greengrass."

 

Daphne smiled at Carrow and said, "And thank you for indulging us, Lord Carrow. We hope to have tea with you again soon."

 

"It would be our pleasure." Carrow replied with a slight bow before turning towards Fred and George. He raised an eyebrow as he warned in an amused tone, "Don't think of trying to prank me during my rounds, Fred, George."

 

"Oh, we're so scared, Ally." Fred cheerfully grinned.

 

"Especially now that you're challenging us." George added with an identical grin.

 

Pucey covered his face as Carrow retorted with a smirk, "I am challenging you. Amuse me."

 

Carrow winked at the twins before walking away. Pucey bowed at Harry silently before following Carrow, briskly walking to be able to catch up with his best mate. The last thing they heard from the two was Pucey hissing, "Alastor, I swear, if I get mixed up with whatever you three are doing, I will hex your toes off!"

 

"Aaahh, Dri-dri, such a charming chaser." Fred commented then turned to face the rest of the remaining participants, "Oh, tea!"

 

Daphne turned her eyes towards Harry who had finished his current slice. Harry smiled at the twins and said, "Come join us. We're just having tea and one of the most delicious treacle tarts I have ever tasted."

 

Harry turned towards Daphne and asked, "Where do you get this sinful goodness?"

 

"Thanks, Harrykins." The twins said and sat down at the same time, taking Carrow's and Pucey's seats. They grabbed the tea cups and looked at each other. They exchanged cups before taking a sip.

 

Daphne stood as she replied, "I ordered them this little pastry store hidden in the midst of muggles. Of course, the owners are magical."

 

Hermione glared at Daphne but the Slytherin paid her no mind, refilling everyone's tea as she continued, "I could give you the address if you like, Lord Harry?"

 

"I would be overjoyed if you did." Harry replied with a grin.

 

And he wasn't even exaggerating.

 

Daphne smiled back at him before taking out her wand. She tapped the table twice and everyone's chair moved closer to each other, providing a space between Theodore and one of the twins. Daphne pointed her wand towards one of the twin and chanted, "Gemino."

 

An exact replica of the chair appeared between Theo and one of the twins and a new tea cup popped in front of the newly created seat. Daphne smiled at Hermione and pleasantly said as she poured the new tea cup with tea, "Please seat, Miss Granger."

 

Hermion stared at Daphne warily and took a seat. She raised her head and said, "Muggles also makes delicious pastries. Some even better than the magical ones."

 

Parkinson glared at her and sneered, "Why don't you relax, Granger? No one is saying that muggles don't know how to bake."

 

Hermione retorted heatedly, "I'm just saying that it's not fair that Greengrass ordered from a magical pastry store without trying muggle pastry store."

 

"Why would Daphne choose a muggle pastry when she already knows a fantastic magical pastry?" Parkinson asked in a mocking tone.

 

"Because some muggle pastry stores are better!" Hermione replied loudly.

 

"How would you know when you haven't even eaten the slice in front of you?" Parkinson sneered. Parkinson glared at Hermione as she passionately said, "That's what angers me about you muggle-raised ignorant imbeciles. You preach about your muggle ways and your muggle ideas without even caring about knowing the ideas or ways of our world! You push the traditions of muggles, burying and destroying our magical traditions! You mislabel branches of magic as evil or forbidden because they go against your muggle upbringing! Yet, this entire time, none of you bother to even try and learn about our traditions!"

 

Hermione's eyes were wide as she stared at Parkinson who was breathing heavily. She took a deep breath and sipped her tea. She turned towards Harry and whispered, "Forgive me for that horrible display, Lord Harry. I will understand if you would like for me to remove myself-"

 

"No, stay." Harry interrupted, finishing his current slice. He shrugged as he added, "I have no reason to ask for your removal. You simply stated your opinion of the matter, the same way Granger stated her own opinion."

 

No one bothered to comment on the obvious escalation and switch of the topic in Parkinson’s rant.

 

Hermione's wide eyes turned towards Harry while Parkinson bowed as she said softly, "Thank you for your generosity, Lord Harry."

 

A wave of tense awkward silence breezed through the entire table. Lils cleared her throat before asking awkwardly, "Ha-have you tried opening the egg, Lord Harry?"

 

Harry, who had been happily eating his slice, tilted his head as he asked, "Hm? Why would I do that?"

 

"The golden egg supposedly holds a hint of what you must do for the second task." Theo informed Harry dutifully, making Harry hum.

 

Harry turned towards Luna and ordered gently, "Open the egg, my dear."

 

Luna placed both hands on the egg as she replied dreamily, "It would be wise not to, My Lord."

 

Harry noticed the three Gryffindors turn to stare at Luna but paid them no attention, asking his dear pup instead, "Is it dangerous?"

 

"It is not life-threatening." Luna replied with a dreamy smile.

 

Harry raised an eyebrow at the wording of her sentence but shrugged before ordering once more, "Open it then."

 

"As you command, My Lord." Luna dreamily replied, twisting the top. The entire egg opened and an ear-piercing shrill enveloped the entire table. Everyone but Luna covered their ears and leaned away from the blonde. Luna who hadn't even looked a bit fazed untwisted the top, closing the egg.

 

Everyone stared at the egg in silence.

 

Harry raised an eyebrow as he drawled, "That was a very informative hint."

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The whole burning the community down while singing and playing the lyre is a reference to the great fire in Rome during Nero's reign where one story says that Nero was the one who ordered the burning of Rome and watched the entire thing go down while singing and playing the lyre.
> 
> And yes, I did pause Snape's dilemma XD


	29. Sides

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The rest of the week passed by like a flash

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So the price of exchanging my laptop’s entire keyboard was a bit too steep for me so I went with the cheap route and bought a USB keyboard instead. XD
> 
> We’re back in business, wo-hoh!
> 
> Warning:  
> 1 unbeta'ed as usual  
> 2 slight time skip  
> 3 Dialogues ahoy  
> 4 uuummm… maybe… prepare your heart? Maybe? XD

Due to the shrieking of the egg, they had to quickly finish their tea party because they heard Flitch running his mouth while briskly walking towards them. They managed to evade him and returned to their respective common room.

 

Harry didn't bother to talk to anyone in the common room by feigning tiredness which wasn’t too hard to do since everyone was busy partying over Harry's 'success'. When his head hit the fluffy pillow, he was out like a light.

 

So maybe he really wasn't feigning tiredness after all.

 

The following morning, Harry stayed in his bed, eating breakfast with Voldemort. As he cut a piece of his pancake, Harry asked nonchalantly, "So what's the second task?"

 

"A person you hold dear will be taken from you and placed in the lake. You are to find them and take them back to the starting point." Voldemort summarized before sipping his tea.

 

Harry watched the older wizard as he continued to eat his pancake, noticing how Voldemort's attention was focused on the parchment Dobby had left with their breakfast. Voldemort sipped his tea once more, his eyes trained at the parchment in his hand. When Harry finished his pancake, he grabbed the bowl of sliced fruits and poked a piece of peach with his fork as he asked, "Any idea who it might be?"

 

Voldemort finally turned to face Harry, observing the boy in front of him for a few seconds. Harry kept his eyes on Voldemort's face, waiting for the Dark Lord to say something. Voldemort raised an eyebrow as he mused, "You don't care about such thing. As long as you know you have to save someone, the question you would have asked was what spell I thought of for you to use in the second task."

 

Voldemort placed the parchment on the side before asking, "What's bothering you?"

 

"Who says anything is bothering me?" Harry asked with a grin, tilting his head.

 

"We're having a normal conversation void of any unnecessary muggle references, snarky retorts, pet names or sadistic ideas." Voldemort listed seriously before asking, "Now, what is the problem?"

 

Harry bit his bottom lip, poking the poor peach over and over again with his fork. When a minute passed without any of them saying anything, Voldemort finally grabbed Harry's wrist and ordered, "Stop playing with your food."

 

Harry let go of the fork and twisted his hand until he could grab Voldemort's own wrist as well. Harry raised his head to stare at Voldemort as he said, "My meeting with Sirius and Professor Lupin is this weekend."

 

Voldemort remained quiet, listening to the young wizard as he rambled, "Of course, you already know that. You were there when I wrote the letter saying the time and the place and now I'm rambling on because I'm panicking and I have no idea why I should be panicking in the first place beca-"

 

Voldemort's grip on his wrist tighten, making Harry close his mouth instinctively. Voldemort's grip loosened and Harry felt the older wizard's thumb caress the skin of his wrist as he explained, "You're panicking because, even if you believe you don't care if they don't stand by your side after knowing the truth, a part of you still want to them to be with you regardless of who you are. They are the people you adored most."

 

"Not anymore." Harry corrected, smiling at Voldemort as he admitted, "I think I have someone I adore more than them now."

 

"Really now?" Voldemort raised his eyebrows as he asked.

 

Harry's smile became coy as he admitted, "My dear Luna, of course."

 

"Of course." Voldemort drawled.

 

Harry's smile turned into a grin as he asked, "Did you think I was going to say you, my dear Love Tart?"

 

Voldemort returned to his parchment as he ordered, "Eat your fruits, luv."

 

Harry's grin grew as he commented, "I can't eat it with you holding my hand."

 

"Use your other hand." Voldemort ordered without missing a beat.

 

Harry chuckled and grabbed the fork with his other hand. As he continued to eat the random fruit slices, he said, "I lied by the way."

 

Voldemort didn't look away from the parchment he held on his other hand as he continued to caress Harry's wrist while answering, "I know."

 

Harry chuckled before commenting, "Your ego is showing, Love Tart."

 

"You should know." Voldemort drawled, "You're the one currently stroking it."

 

Harry grinned at Voldemort and the older wizard raised his head to smirk at Harry.

 

The rest of the week passed by without any major incident.

 

The article about Dumbledore and Grindelwald's connection (and possible romantic past) had switched the focus from Harry to Dumbledore.

 

Harry had to admit it.

 

Skeeter certainly knew how to spin a short conversation out of proposition.

 

Her article made Dumbledore sound like a hypocrite for being against Harry's budding relationship with Marvolo when he had a similar experience with a well-known Dark Lord while placing seeds of doubt in other people's mind about Dumbledore's true intentions.

 

Dumbledore had taken it all in stride yet it seemed the article had changed his daily life immensely. It was rare to see Dumbledore in the Great Halls now according to his baby snakes. It seemed he had spent the rest of the week, simply trying to mitigate the damage done by that article.

 

Harry's life remained quite alright for the rest of the weekend as well. The students have stopped antagonising him and some were even being friendly to him but he paid them no heed. Hermione wasn't bothering him due to being in the library most of the time. Ron was also comfortably with Dean and Seamus while Ginny was... as strange as ever.

 

He had stopped trying to make sense of the youngest Weasley's actions since the beginning of this year.

 

Before long, it was Saturday and Harry really didn't want to leave the comforts of his bed. In an attempt to stop the impending meeting, Harry had tried to keep Voldemort in bed by lying on top of him, feigning sleep, but the evil wizard simply pushed him off the bed.

 

It was amusing how a body falling onto the floor with a loud thud didn’t even wake the other Gryffindors up.

 

It honestly made Harry wonder just how much noise he can make and no one would be the wiser.

 

With Voldemort hiding under the Invisibility Cloak, both of them slipped out of Hogwarts and went to the Shrieking Shack. They only had to wait for three minutes which Harry spent singing once more. The song, surprisingly, had a calming effect on him which only made him wonder where he might have heard the song in the first place. Voldemort remained invisible so Harry didn't see the way he kept his eyes trained in him as he sang.

 

When the two remaining Marauders entered the room, Sirius immediately engulfed Harry into an embrace as he whispered, "Hey, pup."

 

"Good to see you, Padfoot." Harry whispered, hugging him back. When they pulled away, Harry smiled at Remus and said, "Hello to you too, Professor."

 

Remus smiled back and hugged Harry as well as he said, "Please, Harry, I'm no longer your professor. You can call me Remus."

 

"Okay, Remus." Harry said with a smile as they pulled back.

 

"We read about your performance, pup. An advanced charm work like that at your age? That's just brilliant!" Sirius said excitedly, "You're as talented in charms as Lily."

 

Harry's smile grew a bit strained as he said, "Thanks, Sirius, but I couldn't have done it without Marvolo's help."

 

Sirius' smile faltered as Harry continued, "He was the one who taught me that spell."

 

"Marvolo Slytherin..." Remus mumbled before asking, "What... kind of person is he, Harry?"

 

Harry tilted his head as he asked, "What do you mean, Remus?"

 

"Is he a good person?" Remus clarified, "Has he been kind to you?"

 

"Of course he has." Harry smiled at Remus as he said, "He's fantastic."

 

"How are you sure this Slytherin isn't just trying to con you?" Sirius suddenly asked in a passionate tone.

 

Harry didn't expect the escalation this quickly.

 

"Marvolo isn't like that." Harry argued with a slight frown.

 

"Slytherins are all the same, Harry!" Sirius exclaimed, "They're sly cunning bastards who would happily walk all over you to get what they want."

 

"Sirius, calm dow-"

 

"Everyone does that!" Harry shouted, cutting Remus off without meaning to. He just couldn't stop himself.

 

"Not us!" Sirius shouted back, "We're better than them! This is what he's doing to you! He's making you believe that everyone is against you!"

 

"He is not making me believe anything!" Harry hissed, "Do you really think I would be naive enough to simply believe every sweet lie fed to me?"

 

Harry's lips curved into a sadistic smirk as he sardonically commented, "Oh, wait. That would be you two!"

 

Remus and Sirius both stared at him with wide eyes and Harry froze.

 

He didn't mean to say such thing.

 

It was a spur in the moment.

 

Hearing Sirius tell him he was changing, that Marvolo _Voldemort_ was being a negative influence in his life was just too much.

 

It was easy to reel back when it had been Ron who had said it. It was even easy when it had been Dumbledore.

 

But hearing it from Sirius...

 

It just...

 

"I'm sorry." Harry said softly, "That was out of line."

 

"No, it was completely in line, Harry." Sirius whispered.

 

"Sirius." Remus called out but Sirius paid no heed to it.

 

"Why don't you tell us, then, Harry. Tell us what would make you think that we're the foolish ones here?" Sirius asked, his eyes glowing with repressed rage.

 

Harry stared at Sirius for a few seconds before asking, "Why did you never get a trial?"

 

"It was a chaotic time then. Everyone just wanted it to be over. Many didn't get trials-"

 

"But shouldn't you have been different?" Harry interrupted Sirius' rant, "Why didn't Dumbledore ask for your trial? Why did Dumbledore never ask for your side of the story?"

 

"He did!" Sirius admitted, making Remus' eyes widened, "He visited me when I was in custody and asked me for the truth! I told him it was my fault because it was! James wanted me to be the secret keeper but I was the one who suggested Peter be the one! I was the reason he died!"

 

"So you decided to pay for it by being carted to Azkaban... because you failed to save James Potter." Harry whispered, "You didn't even think about your godson, did you?"

 

Sirius' eyes widened at those words and started, "Harry, I did-"

 

Harry couldn't help it.

 

He laughed.

 

He laughed so hard he felt as if his throat was slowly being ripped apart.

 

He felt a hand at his back and felt a flow of foreign calmness begin to combat his current emotion.

 

He leaned towards the hand, pressing himself against a hard chest. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath before finally whispered, "I understand now. I finally understand."

 

"Harry?" Sirius looked at him warily, almost as if he was staring at a rabid animal that could strike anytime.

 

Harry stared at Sirius and smiled widely as he said in a slightly dreamy tone, "It has always been James Potter, hasn't it, Sirius Black?"

 

Harry walked towards the older man and grabbed both of his hands. He intertwined their hands and leaned forward; raising his head to stare at Sirius as he asked, "Tell me, my dear Padfoot, do you see James whenever you look at me? Do you see your best mate?"

 

"You know that's not true." Sirius whispered and Harry's smile became more indulgent and mocking.

 

"Do you really think that?" Harry asked, letting go of Sirius and stepping back. He turned towards Remus and asked, "Do you also see him, Remus? Do you see James Potter when you look at me?"

 

"Of course not, Harry." Remus whispered gently, looking actually pained by the question, "I've come to know you, Harry. We both did. You're not James or Lily. You're your own person."

 

Harry laughed once more and looked at the ceiling as he mused, "Is that so?"

 

Harry lowered to face the two of them and asked with sad eyes betraying the smile on his face, "Do you two believe you love me?"

 

"We do love you, pup." Sirius immediately proclaimed passionately, "Never let anyone tell you otherwise."

 

Harry looked at Sirius fondly yet he steeled his heart. The foreign calmness inside him continued, providing a silent comforting presence he knew he needed but would never say out loud.

 

Then again, he didn't see a point of pretending to not feel such a thing considering Voldemort already knew what he was feeling because of the link.

 

"Marvolo Slytherin is Voldemort." Harry proclaimed, watching the two's reactions.

 

"I knew it!" Sirius hissed.

 

"And I'm going to become Voldemort's consort." Harry added.

 

Both of them froze at those words, staring at Harry with wide eyes.

 

It was Sirius who immediately walked towards him and grabbed his shoulders as he asked, "Did he threaten you?! Did he do something to you?!"

 

"He didn't do anything like that!" Harry pushed Sirius away and took a few steps back as he explained, "I've never been Light, Sirius! I've never been in Dumbledore's side this entire time!"

 

"What... what are you talking about, pup?" Sirius asked yet Harry could see the dawning pain in his eyes.

 

Sirius was already thinking Harry had betrayed him.

 

"I had to live my entire life with magic-hating muggles who used me as their personal servant. I lived my entire life being shunned by every muggle who thought they knew who I am because of the lies my relatives have spread." Harry summarized with an even tone yet his question held a mocking tone in it, "Do you really think a person who had to live a life I have would side with the man who put me in the loving care of my relatives?"

 

"But you would side with the monster who killed your parents?!" Sirius angrily exclaimed.

 

"I never knew James and Lily Potter." Harry calmly stated, "I can't hold any feeling for people I don't know."

 

"They died protecting you." Sirius angrily hissed.

 

"Does that mean I have to live my life the way they would have wanted it? Does saving my life mean I have to live my life in the same golden cage they were placed in?" Harry snarled, neither noticing Remus had frozen at Harry's words. Harry stepped back, leaning against the invisible form of Voldemort as he argued, "I wasn't raised by James and Lily Potter. I do not hold the same values they have and I never felt any binding emotions towards them. I am my own person and this is my choice. I choose to be by Voldemort's side."

 

And the strangest thing was that was the truth.

 

Even if their alliance was brought by the ritual he had performed, somewhere along the way, Harry actually started to like being by Voldemort's side.

 

"It's the wrong choice, Harry!" Sirius argued.

 

"Calm down, both of you!" Remus finally spoke and they both closed their mouth and turned to stare at the quiet wizard. Remus turned towards Sirius and gently suggested, "You need to calm down, Sirius. I know what you're trying to do but shouting about it will not help your cause."

 

Remus turned towards Harry and gently said, "I'm not going to say I understand what you're going through, Harry, but we're just looking out for you. Yes, Dumbledore was a great factor in the hardships you had to face but we haven't heard his side in all of this. He might not even have prior knowledge of the abuse. You're picking a side solely based on incomplete facts."

 

Remus took a step toward Harry as he pleaded, "You must understand, Harry. The Dark Lord is not a good person."

 

"He's a manipulator and a seducer." Sirius hissed angrily, "He lures you with his magic, spins you around and around with his sweet lies and then he'll leave you once he knows you're too encased in his web to get out."

 

"That's awfully specific of you, Sirius." Harry sardonically commented before asking in a mocking tone, "Do you have first-hand experience then?"

 

"I know because I watched my brother fall for the same act!" Sirius angrily exclaimed, "I'm not letting you end up like Regulus!"

 

"Sirius, calm down!" Remus tried to rein in his friend but Harry had other plans.

 

"Can you just make up your bloody mind, Sirius?!" Harry hissed, "Am I supposed to be your new James or your new Regulus?!"

 

"What are you- That's not what I mean!" Sirius defended.

 

"Then just tell me what you mean because I can't bloody understand what you want from me!" Harry exclaimed.

 

"Harry, you don't understand."

 

"Then make me understand!" Harry ordered.

 

"You're a c-" Sirius' words stopped in midsentence as his eyes widened. Remus also froze while he stared at Harry.

 

It took a moment for Harry to realize they were staring behind him.

 

Sirius and Remus took out their wands and aimed it at Voldemort. Both of them chanted a spell and Harry immediately stepped towards Voldemort as he ordered, "STOP!"

 

"Harry!" Sirius and Remus' shouted when they realized Harry was going to get hit by their spell.

 

Harry gasped when a hand suddenly grabbed his wrist and pulled him backwards, making him lose his balance. Harry fell on Voldemort's arms and all he could do was let the stronger wizard hold him closely as he outstretched his hand. The spells rebounded a few inches away from them and Harry recognized it as the result of a Protego spell shielding the caster. Voldemort kept Harry in his arms as his magic instinctively wrap around them, furious and powerful. Voldemort lowered his hand and ordered, "Kneel."

 

Remus and Sirius began to tremble and Harry could feel Voldemort's magic flare out towards the two, wrapping around them like a snake slowly choking their victim. It was Remus who stumbled to his knees, sweating furiously and breathing heavily.

 

Sirius remained standing, glaring at Voldemort as he hissed through gritted teeth, "Let go of him!"

 

Voldemort's eyes narrowed and he pulled Harry close to his chest as he proclaimed, "You will kneel, you foolish mutt."

 

Sirius continued to glare at him as the magic began condensing around him. Sirius growled in frustrations as his knees finally gave in but he kept glaring at Voldemort.

 

Voldemort turned to face Harry and placed his other hand on Harry's cheek, forcing the boy to stare at him as he ordered, "You need to calm down, Harry. You're letting your emotions get a hold of you."

 

He didn’t understand.

 

He knew Voldemort didn’t need to be saved.

 

Then why…

 

Why did his body moved instinctively to protect him?

 

"I know. I know." Harry rested his forehead on Voldemort's chest and closed his eyes. He took a deep breath and relaxed under Voldemort's magic.

 

It was his emotions. His emotions were clouding his mind.

 

Voldemort was right. He needed to calm down. He needed to think clearly.

 

The two Marauders watched their interaction. Harry raised his head to stare at Voldemort as he whispered, "Thanks."

 

Voldemort caressed Harry's cheek once as he whispered, "Anytime, my dear."

 

Voldemort stepped away from Harry and faced the two kneeling men. Voldemort stepped back but kept his eyes trained at the two. Harry turned to face Sirius and Remus as well and proclaimed, "I'm marrying Voldemort and nothing will change my mind. Not even the two of you..."

 

"Then what do you want from us, Harry?" Sirius asked bitterly before hissing, "Because there is no way I will ever bow down to that monster."

 

"I've asked for your pardon." Harry explained, making Remus' eyes widened, "As long as you don't get in his way, he and his followers will not attack you."

 

"I'm sorry, pup, but there is no way I will just sit back and watch my friends die." Sirius hissed yet Harry could clearly see the pain in Sirius' eyes.

 

"What friends, Sirius?" Harry mockingly asked, "As far as I can see, the only friend you have left is Remus and he's part of the deal."

 

Sirius faltered for a moment before shouting, "The Weasleys!"

 

"This is getting pathetic." Voldemort hissed in an annoyed tone. He turned towards Harry and asked, "May I be allowed to talk to your mutt, luv?"

 

"Don't call him that!" Sirius shouted.

 

Harry pinched the bridge of his nose as he said, "Go ahead."

 

Voldemort stared at Sirius as he asked, "You're not telling the truth. It's not about your friends, you have none left. It's about the friends who are already dead, isn't it, Sirius Black?"

 

Sirius glared at Voldemort as he hissed, "I will never forgive you."

 

"It was war, you naive fool." Voldemort hissed back, "Of course we were going to kill anyone who opposes us. I would have killed James and Lily Potter regardless have I been given the chance. Your side would have done the same thing had the two been on my side."

 

"Then what about Regulus!?" Sirius shouted.

 

Voldemort stared at Sirius for a moment before explaining calmly, "I have only heard of Regulus Black's disappearance. I have no knowledge of what happened to him nor did I order any of my followers to look for him. As far as I'm concern, he left in his own accord and never came back."

 

"Do you honestly think we would believe you wouldn't have ordered someone to look for him?!" Sirius sneered, "You kill every traitor you find!"

 

"That is true." Voldemort admitted calmly before adding, "But Regulus Black was a talented wizard and the son of Orion. He performed all of his orders well above my expectations. As such, I was lenient with his betrayal."

 

Voldemort's lips curved into a slight frown as he added, "And perhaps I was also thinking about Orion. While he never took my mark, he was loyal to me and a small mercy to his son was the least I could do to repay his loyalty since I cannot show the same mercy to you."

 

Voldemort stared at Sirius as he said seriously, "I swear on my magic I have no knowledge of Regulus Black's disappearance nor did I kill him or ordered anyone to kill him."

 

Voldemort's body glowed for a moment and Remus whispered, "He's telling the truth..."

 

"Then what happened to my brother?!" Sirius shouted, "What happened to Regulus?!"

 

"I have no idea." Voldemort replied.

 

"How can you not know?! You're his bloody lord, aren't you?!" Sirius shouted.

 

"And you're his brother." Voldemort retorted calmly, "You are an insufferable fool, Sirius Black. If my dear Harry didn't adore you, I would have already killed you."

 

Sirius was taken aback by the admission yet Voldemort continued, "Unfortunately, my dear Harry does adore you but you are truly testing my patience. You're angry and you need someone to direct that anger to. It's easy to aim that anger at me, the evil Dark Lord, isn't it?"

 

"But do you know who you're really angry at?" There was a hint of sadistic glee in Voldemort's tone.

 

"You're angry at yourself." Harry proclaimed in a calm tone. Voldemort watched silently as Harry walk towards Sirius. He placed his hands on Sirius' cheeks as he realized, "You're angry at yourself for having a hand on James and Lily Potter's death. You're also angry at yourself for not being able to stop your brother from the fate that awaited him."

 

"I can't fail you too, Harry." Sirius whispered, grabbing Harry's wrists as he whispered, "I can't- I-"

 

"You've already failed me, Padfoot." Harry whispered, the gentleness of his voice betraying the ruthlessness of his words, "You failed me the moment you chose to exact your revenge on Wormtail instead of raising me. You failed me when you accepted your new home as Azkaban instead of fighting for your innocence, instead of accepting your role as my godfather."

 

Tears began to fall from Sirius' eyes as he whispered, "I'm so sorry, Harry. I didn't know-"

 

"And you're failing me now as well, my dear Padfoot." Harry gently interrupted Sirius, smiling softly at him, "I..."

 

"I want to be with Voldemort." Harry admitted in a whisper, as if it was something that shouldn't be said out loud. Voldemort did not say anything but his eyes were on Harry's back as the younger wizard continued, "This is what I want to do, Padfoot."

 

Harry placed his forefinger by Sirius' lips, keeping the older man from talking as he continued, "I'm not blinded by his less desirable traits. I assure you. I know he's a sadistic easily riled up megalomaniac with delusions of grandeur and an ego so big he truly believes he cannot be wrong."

 

"Thank you for your kind words, luv." Voldemort drawled.

 

Harry turned to hush Voldemort, "Sshhh. We're having a moment here so shut it."

 

Remus couldn't believe that the Dark Lord didn't curse or outright kill Harry then. Instead, the Dark Lord simply rolled his eyes and crossed his arms.

 

Harry turned to face Sirius once more as he continued, "But even with his flaws, I still wish to remain by his side."

 

Harry's eyes began to glisten as he pleaded, "Please understand, Sirius. I don't need you to stand by my side after this. I don't even need you to care for me. I just need you to accept his pardon and not get in his way."

 

"I can't." Sirius whispered, pulling Harry. Voldemort took a step forward when Harry was forced to kneel due to Sirius' pull. Sirius wrapped his arms around Harry and whispered, "There's no way in hell I can just stop caring about you, pup. I just can't."

 

"Then you have to deal with the fact that I'm going to stay by Voldemort's side." Harry whispered as he pressed his eyes on Sirius' shoulder.

 

"Do you love him?" Sirius whispered and Harry closed his eyes.

 

It would be easy to lie.

 

Sirius was too emotional. He wouldn't be able to see past the lies if Harry decided to use them.

 

But...

 

It seemed so wrong to lie about how he felt about Voldemort.

 

Harry raised his head and turned to face Voldemort. Their eyes met and Harry knew that Voldemort would understand if he decided to lie.

 

Yet, it wasn't the lie that passed by Harry's lips but the promise he once read so many years ago, "I want an eternity together with him."

 

And strangely enough, it wasn't a lie.

 

Voldemort's eyes hardened at those words and Harry wondered if he had said the wrong thing but he could still the comforting presence through their link. Voldemort offered his hand to Harry and waited. Harry gently pried Sirius' arms off him before standing. He walked back towards Voldemort and accepted the hand. Voldemort pulled him closer and Harry pressed the side of his face on Voldemort's chest. Voldemort caressed Harry's hair for a moment before raising his hand towards the two kneeling men. Voldemort flicked his wrist and the two men stumbled to the ground, Voldemort's oppressing magic no longer keeping them in their place. As they try to regain their breathing, Voldemort said, "We will give you until Yule to think about the offer."

 

"And if we disagree?" Sirius hissed, glaring at Voldemort.

 

"Just stop it, Sirius!" Remus shouted. Sirius was momentarily surprised by the sudden outburst but Remus continued, "Just stop antagonizing Harry right now!"

 

"I'm no-"

 

"You're antagonizing Harry as long as you're antagonizing the Dark Lord!" Remus interrupted his friend, "Just shut up, take the bloody time given to us and let's talk about this when we're alone!"

 

"You can't actually be thinking of accepting this offer?!" Sirius asked ludicrously.

 

"Honestly? I actually am!" Remus admitted, "This is a good offer, Sirius. All we have to do is back off and not be part of Dumbledore's Order again. We'll still be with Harry!"

 

"But what about everyone else?!" Sirius shouted.

 

"For Merlin's sake, Sirius! For once, stop trying to do the right thing and just do what you want to do the most!" Remus shouted back, turning hysterical, "We've already lost so much during the last war and how were we repaid by Dumbledore? You were carted to Azkaban without even being asked for a trial and I lost all my friends because they believed I was the traitor!"

 

Remus grabbed Sirius' arm and pleaded, "You and Harry are all I have left, Padfoot! Harry is all we have left! He's our cub, Sirius. We can't abandon him now."

 

"I-I..." Sirius placed one hand over the right side of his face, "I need to think about this."

 

Harry pulled away from Voldemort and ran towards the two men. He wrapped his arms around the last two remaining Marauders and whispered, "Thank you."

 

Both of them tightened their hold on Harry and Sirius pressed his eyes on Harry's shoulder.

 

"Of course, we cannot simply let you go." Voldemort said, making all three stare at him as he called out, "Dobby."

 

Dobby popped right next to Voldemort, bowing as he asked, "What can Dobby do for My Lord?"

 

"Take these two men to Theonel Nott's manor." Voldemort ordered before turning towards the two men while Dobby walked towards them, "You will remain in the manor until we hear your answer on Yule. You will have your own rooms and will have no obligations to talk to Theonel or be in his presence. All that is required of you would be to remain in the manor. If you dare even step one foot out of the manor, the Nott house elves will happily lock you in your room until Yule."

 

"And if one of us decided to not accept your offer?" Sirius asked, tightening his grip on Harry.

 

"You will be locked in your room until the end of this school year." Voldemort explained, "Harry is required to compete in the tournament until the very end. As such, he cannot leave Hogwarts. His safety is my number one priority and I will do everything that must be done to ensure his true loyalty will not be known to Dumbledore until he is safely away from the old meddling fool. That includes locking up mutts like you if it's necessary."

 

Voldemort's eyes narrowed at Sirius as he continued, "Once he is safely away from Dumbledore, you will be free to do as you wish."

 

Harry pulled away from the two of them, making both men lower their head to stare at Harry as he continued, "But if you decide to go against Voldemort, there will be no mercy for both of you."

 

Harry walked backwards toward Voldemort, keeping his attention at the two men. Dobby grabbed the sleeve of their robes and waited while Harry said with a soft smile, "I will understand if you don't accept it. You two shouldn't feel responsible for me. It's alright."

 

"Harry-"

 

"I'll see you both at Yule." Harry interrupted Sirius, "Please, think hard about what you want to do. Don't simply accept it because of me or reject it because it's the right thing to do. Just..."

 

Harry tilted his head slightly as he finished in a whisper, "... think about it."

 

Harry nodded at Dobby and the three popped away without the two being able to say goodbye. Harry turned towards Voldemort and raised his head to stare at Voldemort's red eyes. Voldemort caressed his cheeks and Harry closed his eyes, sighing as he whispered, "I'm alright."

 

"Are you sure?" Voldemort asked.

 

Harry leaned on Voldemort's touch and smiled as he opened his eyes, whispering, "Surprisingly, knowing you'll be by my side makes everything alright. Strange, isn't it?"

 

"Yes." Voldemort took a step forward, placing his other hand on Harry's waist. He leaned forward and Harry instinctively closed his eyes. When he felt Voldemort's forehead rest against his, Harry sighed. He barely heard Voldemort whisper, "But I find myself not caring a single bit."

 

Harry’s lips curved into a small smile.

 

He didn’t need to say it out loud for Voldemort to know that he felt the same.

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> From how I understood it, Voldemort didn't know about Regulus' betrayal (stealing the locket). Sirius believes he died because he tried to leave but we never knew what Voldemort thought about Regulus' disappearance. 
> 
> "An eternity together" is a paraphrase of diary!Tom's words to Harry in 'The Musing of A Diary Horcrux' which was "We could be together for all eternity".
> 
> Okay, you guys might find it weird there was a slight timeskip in this chapter. Just a head's up, there will also be a slight time skip in the next chapter because... of personal reasons. I shall explain it next week. XD
> 
> But I assure you, you will... I guess... 'love'? Maybe enjoy? Anyway, you'll like the reason for the time skip. I promise XD


	30. A Promise Kept

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Try as you might, you cannot run away from the past

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is a bit special because of plot reason. Surprisingly, it coincided with my birthday (this Sunday, August 28) XD
> 
> Warning:  
> 1 Unbeta’ed as usual  
> 2 Prepare your hearts, guys XD

The following week was uneventful again. Harry did manage to finish the first Etiquette book Voldemort ordered him to finish and, now, he was reading about traditional rituals, many of which were no longer being practiced.

 

It was interesting, to say the least.

 

His life was pretty peaceful so, of course, the ones governing the passage of time and the fates of all living things in this world decided to remind Harry that his life was never meant to be peaceful.

 

“Every student will be required to stay for the Holidays, Mister Potter.” McGonagall stated when Harry asked her when the permission slip to leave for the holidays will be passed out after the end of his Transfiguration class.

 

It was usually passed out the first week of December since the term will end by the second week. In other words: next week.

 

“Why?” Harry asked, titling his head slightly as he frowned.

 

“There will be a Yule Ball at Christmas in commemoration of the Tri-wizard Tournament.” McGonagall informed him before asking, “Were you planning on returning to your relatives for this Holiday?”

 

Harry shrugged as he nonchalantly replied, “I was just wondering when I’d know which of my friends will be staying for the holidays.”

 

“You can rest assure that both Mister Weasley and Miss Granger will be staying.” McGonagall commented.

 

Harry almost wanted to make a snarky comment about the obliviousness of his Head of House but managed to stop himself. Harry simply shrugged once more before saying, “Thank you for the information.”

 

Harry turned around to walk away but McGonagall stopped him by saying, “Mister Potter, I must remind you that all champions are required to attend the Yule Dance with a partner of their own choosing.”

 

Harry’s lips curved into a hopeful smile as he asked, “Can I ask Marvolo to be my partner then?”

 

McGonagall’s lips curved into a small grimace as she replied, “I’m afraid not. Only students and faculty members of all three schools are allowed to join the festivity.”

 

When Harry opened his mouth, McGonagall added, “And that does not include alumni of any of the three schools.”

 

Harry pouted and McGonagall suggested, “Perhaps you can ask for one of your female housemates? Fourth years and up are the only ones allowed but they may ask a third year to accompany them. I’m sure Miss Weasley will enjoy the festivity.”

 

Harry hummed before turning around as he said in a bored tone, “I’ll think about it.”

 

Harry walked out of her office without another word.

 

The remainder of the day was spent in class and Harry only managed to talk to Voldemort when they had retreated to Barty’s quarters for dinner.

 

“What are we going to do now?” Harry asked as he cut his steamed chicken breast with a knife, “How are we supposed to get married at Yule Night when I have to go to that stupid dance?”

 

“I honestly did not expect the return of such a boring festivity.” Voldemort admitted as he cut his own steamed chicken breast, “They usually had it for those who remained during the holidays but stopped when the number of indecent incidents became too high for Dippet.”

 

“Who?” Harry tilted his head as he asked.

 

“The Headmaster before Dumbledore.” Voldemort explained before eating a bite-sized part of the chicken breast.

 

Harry ate his own bite-sized part as Barty asked, “But what will we do now, My Lord? Little Lord is correct. With the Yule Dance placed during Yule Night, perhaps it would be better to postpone the bonding?”

 

“No.” Voldemort replied calmly, “The bonding will proceed as plan. This just means that Harry and I will have to leave Hogwarts unnoticed.”

 

“I don’t mind.” Harry commented before eating another bite-sized part.

 

“We will leave the afternoon of Yule.” Voldemort stated, “By that time, the faculty members will be too busy with final preparations and the other students will be too preoccupied with their own preparations.”

 

Voldemort cut another bite-sized piece as he continued, “For now, do as you please but do not outright antagonize anyone concerning the dance. If they ask who you are taking, say you’re taking your favourite puppy.”

 

Harry took a sip of his pumpkin juice before asking, “But wouldn’t they start to wonder when the dance starts and Luna enters without me?”

 

“She will not be joining the dance as well.” Voldemort stated, “She will accompany us.”

 

“Oh?” Harry and Luna both tilted their head at the same time.

 

“Both of your disappearance will give us more time since they will most probably assume that the two of you are hiding in the castle for that night.” Voldemort explained, “This way we will be sure that they will search the castle first. If Harry left by himself, there’s a possibility that some professors will look outside of Hogwarts immediately.”

 

“And maybe try and find Marvolo Slytherin.” Harry mused before eating another bite-sized part of the chicken breast.

 

“Exactly.” Voldemort said with a nod.

 

Luna smiled dreamily as she said, “It’s alright. Everything will go as planned.”

 

Harry grinned at Luna and commented, “That’s great news.”

 

The rest of the term came by in a flash. Harry had been surprised to hear that Daphne was going to the dance with Carrow. He had assumed she was going to go with Zabini. Zabini was going with Parkinson who had become an awkward addition to their tea party. He supposed it made sense for Daphne to go with the acting king. It would solidify her part in the hierarchy and also hinted on her future ambitions. Pucey was going with a Slytherin girl from his year that Harry didn’t know. Theo was apparently going with Tracey while Lils had been asked by Ravenclaw a year older than them and managed to make that Ravenclaw ask a friend to ask Millicent to the dance. Ron tried to talk to him, apparently assuming Harry was also having troubles finding a date, but Harry simply told him he was going with Luna. 

 

The night before Yule, Voldemort stopped him from going to Barty’s personal quarters to eat dinner and said, “Dumbledore should be eating in the Great Halls by now.”

 

“Yeah, I guess?” Harry asked, unsure why Voldemort had suddenly decided to speak in the middle of an abandoned hallway.

 

“We’re going to Dumbledore’s office.” Voldemort stated, “Now.”

 

“Wha-“ Harry’s words were cut off when he felt Voldemort push him forward. With a roll of his eyes, he mumbled as he began walking briskly towards the hallway that will lead to the headmaster’s gargoyle, “Okay, okay. Fine.”

 

When they were in front of the gargoyle, Harry crossed his arms and asked, “Should I start listing off names of sugary treats and hope for the best now?”

 

He was surprised when Voldemort pulled off the Invisibility Cloak and hissed, “Are you crazy?!”

 

Harry rolled his eyes as he mumbled, “Of course you are. Anyone who has a huge ego like you is bound to be crazy.”

 

“I am Marvolo Slytherin, descendant of Salazar Slytherin.” Voldemort hissed at the gargoyle and bit the skin of his point finger till blood fell from it. He placed his point finger by the gargoyle’s mouth, smearing it with his blood as he ordered, “Heed my order, Hogwarts, and grant us passage to the guardian’s domain.”

 

Harry’s jaw slacked as the gargoyle slowly transformed into a coiled snake with seven heads. A moment later, stairs began to appear and Harry followed Voldemort to the headmaster’s office. As they ascended the stairs, Harry asked, “What was that?! I mean, what?!”

 

“Descendants of the founders of Hogwarts have some power over the school.” Voldemort explained, “Not enough to take it away from the current Headmaster but enough to make… a few demands.”

 

“Like what kind of demand?” Harry asked curiously as they reached the door leading to the headmaster’s office.

 

Voldemort smeared blood around the door as he ordered, “Freeze the portraits, Hogwarts, until we have safely left the guardian’s domain.”

 

The door’s simple design slowly turned into snakes slithering in different directions. They waited by the door as Voldemort explained, “We can demand privacy and access to all rooms. That’s the ones I know. Salazar only said it in passing when I was still a student and I had forgotten to ask him when we talked to him.”

 

“It’s not my fault, is it?” Harry cooed with a grin.

 

Voldemort rolled his eyes as he drawled, “Of course, your deliberate teasing and siding with that insufferable old man had nothing to do with it. Don’t be silly, my dear.”

 

It was only when the snakes disappeared and the simple design returned did the two entered the office. It was as Harry remembered it. There were so many trinkets all over the room that Harry felt like it would be better to stay by the door and not be tempted to touch any of the shining trinkets so he let Voldemort walk towards the bookcase alone. Fawkes was surprisingly absent and Harry wondered where the phoenix had gone to.

 

Perhaps to hunt?

 

“Do phoenixes eat?” Harry asked randomly, looking around and noticing that all the portraits look like they were frozen.

 

“Phoenixes are birds of prey.” Voldemort explained, their link already told him what brought the sudden question, “And Dumbledore’s bird has the habit of flying off during dinner to hunt in the Forbidden Forest.”

 

“And how do you know that?” Harry asked with a tilt of his head.

 

Voldemort reached the bookcase and answered distractedly, “I would see the bird every time I would skip dinner and walk by the Forbidden Forest when I was a student.”

 

Harry raised an eyebrow as he asked, “What are you doing in the Forbidden Forest?”

 

Voldemort began checking the title of each book quickly as he answered, “I was visiting the Thestrals. They would let me ride them if I pet them for a few minutes.”

 

“Thestrals?” Harry repeated, watching Voldemort as he searched the bookcase.

 

“Winged horses only visible to those who have seen someone die.” Voldemort stopped and grabbed a book. Harry couldn’t even see the title from where he was standing. Voldemort opened the book and Harry noticed that another book was inside it, the middle portion of the pages carved out to hide the book.

 

Harry froze when Voldemort took out the book.

 

No.

 

… the diary.

 

Harry had forgotten about that.

 

He had forgotten the deal about retrieving the diary the day before Yule break.

 

He supposed it made sense they were getting it the day before Yule itself.

 

Harry’s musing was cut short when he heard Voldemort shout. His eyes widened as he saw the diary glowing. He ran towards Voldemort, “Tom!”

 

“Stay back!” Voldemort ordered and gritted his teeth as he fell on his knees. Harry didn’t move. If Voldemort ordered him to stay then he must have an idea to what was happening and he didn’t want Harry to interfere. The glow began to engulf Voldemort’s hand for a moment before suddenly disappearing. Voldemort fell on the floor, letting go of the diary.

 

“TOM!” Harry shouted once more and shuffled, wondering if he could get close now.

 

Voldemort slowly went on his knees, breathing heavily, while Harry asked, “Do I have to continue staying back?”

 

Voldemort didn’t answer him and grabbed the diary, making Harry growl as he shouted, “Tom! Answer me or I’m going there!”

 

“Stay there!” Voldemort ordered once more, much to Harry’s frustrations. Harry glared at Voldemort with crossed arms as he grabbed the other book as well.

 

When he saw Voldemort began to sway as he stand, Harry commented, “You don’t look so good. You sure you don’t want me to-“

 

“Stay!” Voldemort ordered once more as he placed the diary back in the book.

 

Which served to confuse Harry…

 

Harry frowned as he watched the Dark Lord place the book back before walking briskly towards Harry. When he finally reached Harry, Harry asked, “Why are you leaving the diary? Didn’t we come he-“

 

Harry gasped when Voldemort suddenly fell on top of him. Harry managed to find his balance and stop himself from falling towards the floor. Voldemort quickly manhandled Harry so that they were side by side, with his arm around Harry’s shoulder. Harry groaned when he felt Voldemort lean onto him, making Harry shoulder his most of his weight.

 

“We need to leave.” Voldemort whispered as he began breathing heavily, “Now.”

 

Harry wanted to ask but noticed that Voldemort was slowly coming colder. He grabbed the Invisibility Cloak and put it on both of them. They exited the office, the door magically closing behind them and went down the stairs. When they reached the bottom of the stairs, the seven-headed snake became a gargoyle once more and the stairs disappeared. Harry was unsure where they should go and a quick glance at Voldemort told him that the Dark Lord had lost consciousness.

 

Which was not good…

 

Barty’s room was closer than the Gryffindor tower so Harry decided to go there instead.

 

He shouldn’t have been surprised when he saw Luna standing by the magical door leading to Barty’s personal quarters. Next to her was Theo who looked confused when he saw Luna turn to stare at the invisible duo. Luna looked like an emotional porcelain doll as she said, “This way, My Lord.”

 

Luna turned towards the magical door and stated the new password of the personal quarters. Luna stepped aside and Harry dragged Voldemort inside. Once they were in the middle of the room, Harry’s legs gave up and he fell on the floor, taking Voldemort with him. The Invisibility Cloak fell away from them and Barty exclaimed as he saw the two, “My Lord!”

 

“Don’t touch him!” Luna ordered as she and Theo ran inside, the door closing behind Theo. Luna ran towards Harry and kneeled next to him, “You must enter his mind space, My Lord.”

 

“His what?” Harry repeated with a frown.

 

“His mind space.” Luna repeated, “Every magical being has one. It’s a space where all of our memories are as well as where our magical core dwells.”

 

“You need to use Legilimens to enter a mind space!” Theo shouted frantically, panicking when he saw how… dead Voldemort looked.

 

“Normally, yes, but My Lord’s mind space and Lord Slytherin’s mind space are connected. Normally, My Lord will not be able to enter without Lord Slytherin’s permission but his mind space is currently in disarray.” Luna grabbed Harry’s hand and squeezed it tightly, “You’re the only one who can save him.”

 

“Save him? From what?” Harry asked, feeling the panic blossoming inside his heart as he realized that Voldemort’s chest wasn’t moving anymore.

 

“From himself.” Luna answered before placing Harry’s hand on top of Voldemort’s hand.

 

He was so cold.

 

Harry’s hand began to tremble at that thought.

 

Luna covered his eyes with her one hand and whispered, “Close your eyes, My Lord, and focus your thoughts. Only think of Lord Slytherin. Think of him.”

 

Harry closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

 

He focused on remembering Voldemort.

 

His impeccable black hair that curled at the end…

 

His intense red eyes reminding him of the blood red roses he had planted in his aunt’s garden…

 

His soft warm hands that comforted Harry even when he didn’t need it…

 

His voice…

 

His voice currently screaming so loud Harry’s heart stopped for a second as dread began to spread through his entire body.

 

Harry opened his eyes and saw that he was in an office room of some sort. Dark green curtains covered the tall windows and bookcases filled the other wall. It was similar to Salazar's study back in the Chambers but there were some noticeable differences like the windows and the curtains. The desk also seemed more furnished and the armchairs looked comfier. But Harry did not have enough time to really look around because he finally found Voldemort writhing on the floor, biting his bottom lip to stop the scream that threaten to slip from his treacherous mouth. Harry rushed towards him and knelt next to him, cradling the older man's head to his lap and holding it firmly to stop him from hitting his head against the cold hard floor. Harry didn't know what else to do but call out his name in an urgent manner, "Tom? Tom!"

 

"That won't help him."

 

Harry turned towards the direction he heard the voice and Harry's eyes widened as he saw the visage of the sixteen years old Tom Riddle wearing his Slytherin uniform. He looked just like he had back in the Chambers.

 

Hell. Harry's previous actions and his words seemed like some kind of distorted replay of their first meeting in the Chambers.

 

The only difference was the manic smile on Tom's face and the wand he was caressing in his hands was white and looked more like a sharp bone than a wooden wand.

 

Tom offered his hand towards Harry and said, "Come, Harry."

 

Harry winced when he felt Voldemort grab his arm tightly as he rolled over, whether it was to stop Harry from moving towards Tom or it was because the pain had become too unbearable Harry didn't know. All he can do was let Voldemort push him away from both of them, shouting, "Get out!"

 

"How dare you lay your hands on him like that?!" Tom shouted at Voldemort, raising his wand towards the older wizard.

 

Voldemort glared at him and sneered, "Foolish boy! You're not supposed to exist!"

 

"I'm not supposed to exist?" Tom spatted angrily, "You're the one who created me in the first place!"

 

"I created a Horcrux! Not this emotion driven foolish boy!" Voldemort retorted before sneering, "You've been corrupted by the Light! It's twisted you into this selfish arrogant-"

 

"You don't know me!" Tom interrupted angrily, swishing his wand before aiming it back at Voldemort. Voldemort let out a pained howl that sent shivers all over Harry's body.

 

"Stop it, Tom!" Harry finally ordered, rushing to get between the two Dark wizards.

 

"Get out of the way, Harry." Tom ordered, aiming his wand towards Harry.

 

"Lower your wand, Tom." Harry ordered back, glaring at the sixteen years old.

 

"Don't you understand I'm doing this for us?!" Tom angrily asked Harry.

 

"I seriously don't!" Harry shouted back. Harry took a step forward towards Tom and said calmly, "You are not making any sense, Tom. Explain to me what why you're hurting Tom-"

 

"Er..." Harry shuffled awkwardly as he corrected, "Older Tom, I mean."

 

Voldemort glared at Harry's back for that unnecessary insult. 

 

"I'm trying to get him to accept my memories." Tom replied, his lips curving into the same manic smile that just seemed so wrong in his face. Harry gasped when Tom suddenly grabbed him by the shoulders, pulling him closer to the sixteen years old memory. Tom placed his hands on Harry's cheeks and caressed them softly as he rested his forehead against Harry's. Tom's voice was soft and intimate as he asked, "Remember? An eternity together, Harry."

 

Harry squirmed against Tom's hold and reminded him, "I seem to remember I said no to that."

 

Tom chuckled and retorted as he lowered his hands, holding Harry by the neck, "And I told you I always get what I want."

 

"Get away from him, Harry!" Voldemort ordered, trying to stand as he explained, "He's unstable! Dumbledore has done something to him!"

 

"Dumbledore has not done anything to me!" Tom angrily retorted, raising his wand towards Voldemort once more.

 

"Wait! Tom!" Harry grabbed Tom's hand, his hand grazing against the cold surface of the Yew wand. The wand hummed against Harry's touch and Harry screamed as he was thrown away from Tom. His back collided against a dark grey door, forcing the door open. Harry skidded across the floor and he heard both Tom and Voldemort called out his name.

 

Harry finally stopped sliding when he came into contact with something hard, hitting his head. Harry groaned and rubbed the back of his head with one of his hand, opening his eyes. His vision was blurry at first but he could see Tom rushing towards the door, only to stop right in front of him. Once Harry's vision cleared, he saw Tom had pressed his hands in front of him, reminding Harry of a mime act. Harry blinked slowly, seeing Tom hit the space in front of him with the sides of his fists, his mouth opening and closing like he was trying to say something but Harry heard nothing at all.

 

Harry finally took the time to look around, blinking when he saw that he was back in his cupboard under the stairs but there was one noticeable difference. Instead of a ceiling, Harry could see a dark grey sky. Instead of a sun, there was a sphere of some sort, looking like it was made of wispy fire of some kind. Golden chains wrap around it and Harry could not see where they ended. They almost looked like they simply appeared out of nowhere, keeping the sphere in place and detained. If Harry had to describe the sphere's colour, the closest he could come up with was prism. There was no other way to describe what he was seeing. It looked like it was changing its colour at every movement.

 

And it was singing...

 

It was the song he always sang when he was bored.

 

Harry's entire body froze when he felt something wet touch his wrist. He lowered his head and saw a bony hand made entirely of muscles and bones. Instead of repulse, Harry felt... comfort...?

 

That was just disturbing...

 

"What a rude thought..."

 

Harry leapt off the floor and turned around, holding his wrist in a protective manner as he stared at where the sound came from. He realized that he had been leaning against his cot. A shadowy figure began crawling out from under the cot. Harry saw how the entire being was made of muscles and bones, not a hint of skin in sight. Dark grey wisps from the sphere on top of them began to move towards the figure, covering his entire body in dark grey robes. Before a hood could form to hide his face, Harry's eyes widened when he recognized the face as a more snake-like version of Voldemort's. There were only two snake-like slits where his nose should be and his eyes were shaped like a snake but the shape of his face was eerily similar to Voldemort's.

 

The figure (Voldemort?) gave Harry a mischievous smirk and Harry's eyes widened further when he noticed this Voldemort had green eyes instead of Tom's blues or his Voldemort's (oh dear Merlin, did he just call Voldemort his?) reds. Voldem- The shadowy figure (seriously, there were too many Voldemorts here right now!) walked towards Harry and poked him on the nose as he teased, "Do try to get a hold of yourself, Harry. You look a lot like Hedwig right now."

 

Harry glared at the hooded figure.

 

"Now then..." The hooded figure turned his head to stare at the door, gleefully saying as he observed Tom, "My, my. My dear brother seemed ready to destroy everything."

 

Harry flinched when the hooded figure caressed his cheek with his bony hand and his brows furrowed when he noticed the figure chuckle before commenting, "Such jealousy over such an insignificant touch. He has truly fallen. How pathetic."

 

The hooded figure turned to grin at Harry as he added, "How very entertaining."

 

The hooded figure began limping towards the door where a fuming Tom was glaring at him. Harry observed the robed figure, noticing how slow and weak his movements were. It was almost as if he was forcing himself to walk.

 

"I am forcing myself to walk." The figure replied to his thought, making Harry frown at him.

 

"Are my thoughts transmitted to every Tom out there?" Harry bitterly asked.

 

The figure turned to smirk at him and replied, "No. Simply to me and to the original soul, I assume. Perhaps once we've cleaned up the mess my brother had gotten himself into, he could as well but I highly doubt it."

 

"Brother?" Harry repeated with a tilt of his head.

 

"Come along now, Harry. It's time to do what you do best." The hooded figure said with a sarcastic drawl, "Saving someone like an idiot Gryffindor."

 

"I resent that." Harry said, glaring at the figure and not moving an inch.

 

"Help us, Harry Potter, you're our only hope." The figure drawled, grinning when he noticed Harry's eyes widened.

 

"Did you just quote Star Wars?" Harry asked with a really, really baffled stupid look on his face.

 

It just sounded wrong hearing the voice of an older Tom Riddle/Voldemort/Marvolo Slytherin/whatever-aliases-he's-using-right-now quote a muggle cinema.

 

"Would you prefer if I say..." The hooded figure's voice turned more monotone and deep as he quoted, "Come with me if you want to live."

 

 

"Stop. Please stop quoting muggle cinema with Voldemort's voice." Harry covered his ears and whined, "It sounds so creepy and so out-of-character!"

 

The hooded figure chuckled and offered his hand towards Harry as he asked, "Then come along now, my dear Harry. I cannot pass through without you."

 

"Why not?" Harry asked, staring at the bony hand. The muscles look squishy.

 

"Muscles are not squishy." The figure drawled before explaining, "I cannot pass through alone for my original's magic will try to absorb me the moment I pass by that door. I need your protection."

 

"My protection?" Harry repeated in a tone that clearly stated he did not believe the figure.

 

"Yes, my dear. You would literally be the only thing keeping me from getting eaten by the big bad Dark Lord on the other side of that door." The figure drawled, clearly not offended by Harry's mistrust. The figure wiggled his fingers as he explained, "All you have to do is maintain physical contact with me. That's all. A simply hand holding will do the trick. No need to act so distrustful."

 

"And why should I trust you?" Harry retorted with an arched eyebrow.

 

"Because you have no choice." The figure wiggled his fingers once more as he drawled, "Tick-tock, my dear Harry. The longer we stay in your mind space, the longer your dear Tom is getting poisoned by my brother's corrupted magic."

 

Harry hesitantly grabbed the figure's hand, blinking as he felt the muscles' texture against his skin.

 

It was... strange...

 

Very intriguing...

 

"I'm sure dear Bella would be more than happy to accompany you in experimenting on some poor muggle or Light wizard or witch about how different muscles feel and such." The figure drawled nonchalantly as he guided Harry towards the door. Their pace was slow as the figure continued to limp. Harry leaned closer and let the figure hold onto him.

 

Once they reached the door, Tom aimed his wand at the figure and hissed, "Release Harry now."

 

"Honestly, you've absorbed too much of that Weasley. You're acting like a foolish Gryffindor, brother." The figure sneered the last word with contempt, making Tom's eyes widened. He stared at the figure and took a step back, letting the figure and Harry walk back inside Voldemort's mind-space.

 

"That can't... you can't..." Tom seemed lost at words as he stared at the figure, his hand trembling slightly as he continued to aim it at the figure. Voldemort's eyes were wide as well as he stared at the new addition in his mind space while the hooded figure guided Harry towards one of the comfy green armchairs.

 

The figure sat on the comfy armchair before pulling Harry to sit on his lap. Harry let out an unmanly yelp as he was manhandled and turned his upper body to glare at the figure he was currently sitting on. The figure relaxed and commented, "Ah, home sweet home. This place is as dreary as always."

 

"You're..." Voldemort seemed to be unable to speak, simply staring at the figure currently sitting on the armchair with his fiancé sitting on his lap.

 

The figure wrapped his bony arms around Harry's waist and rested his chin on Harry's shoulder as he stared back at Voldemort. His lips curved into a mischievous smirk as he asked Harry casually, "Shall I tell you a story, my dear Harry?"

 

Not letting anyone reply to his question, the figure began, "Once upon a time, there was a magical boy born from the love of a pure-blood father and a mud-blood mother. He was a normal magical child but a certain prophesy made a big bad Dark Lord come after him. Now, this big bad Dark Lord had lost most of his sanity, driven only by revenge, hate and lust for power and immortality. It was that lust for immortality that drove that Dark Lord to create Horcruxes, pieces of his soul placed inside items of great sentimental values to him that will anchor his own soul to the living world even if his body gets destroyed as long as they exist."

 

Harry's eyes widened and he turned his head to stare at Tom, a piece of Voldemort's soul that had been placed inside a diary.

 

"Yes. That dear Tom of yours was the first Horcrux." The figure confirmed, "He made more. So many more. He splintered his soul again and again for he feared Death would come knocking onto his doorsteps. His destroyed sanity was mainly because his soul had become so tattered it could no longer keep his mind intact. His insanity was only fuelled by the many dark rituals he had done to become more powerful."

 

The figure placed a hand on Harry's chin and forced the boy to stare at Voldemort who was standing on wobbly legs, leaning against a desk for support, "And he had planned on creating another Horcrux, his final Horcrux, when he went to kill you. He had done the proper preparations. What he did not expect was for the killing curse to rebound because of you."

 

"Me? I thought it was because of my mother?" Harry asked, turning to stare at the figure behind him. The figure let out a condescending laugh.

 

"You believed Dumbledore's fairy tale story of love saving you? How very unlike you, Harry." The figure placed his hands on Harry's cheeks and caressed them, mimicking Tom's early actions, as he cooed mockingly, "You know love cannot save anyone, Harry."

 

The figure's tone held a hint of anger as he continued, "It is power that matters. Power to protect, power to save, power to destroy. It was power that saved you that night, Harry. Ancient power meant to keep the Peverell line alive at all cost."

 

Voldemort's eyes widened and he asked, "Harry is a Peverell?"

 

"The last of the direct descendants of the youngest Peverell." The figure confirmed, grinning at Voldemort as he said, "What a Horcrux learns when living inside one's head is quite interesting to say at least. His magic sings the song of the dead and is quite chatty once you get to know it. His soul may be young but his magic is not. According to his magic, it was a failsafe ritual done by the Peverell brothers that bounced the killing curse towards you. The youngest Peverell's line must not die and Magic herself agreed to that ancient ritual between the three brothers and Death. That's why you turned into a wraith and the Boy-Who-Lived was born. So really, it wasn't love of a mother that saved Harry but the stubbornness of three brothers who simply didn't want their line to die out like all the other ancient Wizarding families. They could only preserve one line so they chose the youngest, Harry's direct ancestor, because..."

 

The figure shrugged as he continued, "I honestly have no idea. I assume it's that foolish notion of how older siblings should protect the younger ones. They probably just decided to choose the youngest because of that. Or they flipped a coin. Regardless of why it had been the youngest one, the fact remained that Harry is the direct descendant of the youngest of the Peverell brothers. As long as Harry remains the last living descendant, he cannot be killed."

 

"Oh, and you accidently created me, your seventh Horcrux, and I latched onto Harry." The hooded figure nonchalantly added in the same tone Harry used to talk about something that bored him.

 

Everyone stared at him for a couple of minutes in dumbfounded silence then...

 

"I have a piece of Tom's soul in me?!" Harry shouted the same time Tom and Voldemort shouted, "Harry is my Horcrux?!"

 

"Yes." The figure nodded at Harry before turning to nod at his brother and original, "Yes."

 

"Wha-Hu-How-I-" Harry turned to stare at Voldemort and shouted, "You put your soul in me!"

 

Harry rubbed his arms and grimaced as he commented, "I feel so violated."

 

Harry turned to glare at the figure he was currently sitting on and shouted, "You're his soul piece!"

 

"Not... exactly..." The figure replied with a sheepish grin.

 

"What do you mean by that?" Voldemort asked, glaring at the figure.

 

"Unless you also need glasses-" The figure insulted his original before turning to insult Harry, "-and you really need to get glasses with the proper prescription-"

 

"You two should realize that I'm not exactly pure Lord Voldemort, Tom Marvolo Riddle, Heir of Slytherin, whatever other titles you have right now." The figure continued before waving his hand towards Tom, "I'm like my brother over there. We both started out as pure fragmented souls of our original but we absorbed another person's magic. That magic infected us, made us... different."

 

"Unlike my dear stupid brother who decided to absorb a Light witch's magic-" The figure leaned forward towards Harry and stage-whispered, "-which is totally the reason why he's such a creepy stalker who is ruled by his emotions like an immature foolish Gryffindor."

 

Tom glared at him.

 

"I absorbed the fantastic magic of our dear beloved Harry." The figure wrapped his arms around Harry and grinned at Voldemort, "Aren't I just lucky?"

 

Voldemort glared at Harry and hissed, "You turned my Horcrux into you."

 

Harry frowned and retorted, "It's not like I knew he was inside me. Don't blame me for how he turned out when it was you who placed him inside me in the first place."

 

"It wasn't like I planned on making you Horcrux in the first place! You can't blame me for this accident!" Voldemort hissed back.

 

The figure snickered and commented, "My, my. That sounds like a married couple's conversation of how their child turned out to be. Already practicing for the time your children turn into rebellious teenagers?"

 

Harry and Voldemort glared at him and ordered, "Be quiet!"

 

The figure raised his hands in mocked surrender and replied, "Yes, yes. I am an embarrassment, the real prodigal son, a mistake of a one eventful night, oh dear, that came out wrong..."

 

The glares Harry and Voldemort gave him turned more murderous which only made the figure snicker.

 

"Putting that aside-" The figure waved his hand dismissively before turning to look at Tom, "You and I are quite similar in some ways. That's the reason why I know what's wrong."

 

"What do you mean?" Tom asked, glaring at him.

 

"You're not acting like our old sixteen years old self. You're quick to anger. You're ruled by your emotions. Not to mention, that creepy obsession of yours is too stalker-like to be us." The figure commented, gently pushing Harry off his lap. Harry stood but the figure kept their hands laced together as he stood as well. He walked towards Tom, dragging Harry behind him, as he continued, "They're all because you've been corrupted by Ginerva Weasley's Light magic. You tried to take all of her magic but Light magic is incompatible to our pure Dark magic core. Not to mention, the whole getting stabbed by a Basilisk fang-"

 

"Sorry 'bout that, by the way." Harry interrupted with a sheepish smile.

 

"-should have killed you as a Horcrux." The figure placed his skinless hand over his mouth, tapping his cheek lightly as he admitted, "Quite fascinating, actually. Any normal Horcrux would have died, their soul fading into nothingness. But you have absorbed enough magic to retain your memories and feelings."

 

The figure turned towards Harry and commented in a slightly teasing manner, "I would say 'love' kept you alive but that would be too disgustingly Dumbledore."

 

The figure turned to stare at Tom once more and said, "You're strong 'feelings' over our dear Harry had kept you alive, clinging onto the magic you absorbed from the girl. But that was Light magic and it had corrupted your very essence. Our original can no longer absorb all of you."

 

"Why not!?" Tom shouted angrily, side-stepping over the figure and grabbing Harry by the shoulder. The figure kept his grip on Harry's hand tight as Tom wrapped his arms protectively around Harry, "Once he absorbed me, he will understand what I feel, what I want, what we should have! We can have an eternity with Harry!"

 

"Harry is right here and would like to tell you that you need to sto-"

 

"Not now, dear." The figure interrupted the scathing words which were about to leave the young wizard's mouth, "Trying to reason with him is useless. He's far too determined to have his-"

 

The figure's tone became mocking as he ended, "-happy ending."

 

"How pathetic." Voldemort commented, glaring at Tom.

 

"Oh, give him some slack, original. He's been corrupted by the girl's magic." The figure said casually, smirking at Tom as he said, "That's why he's been poisoning you."

 

"What?" Harry turned to stare at the figure with wide eyes.

 

"His magic is Light." The figure said as he continued to stare at Tom, "Our original cannot accept Light magic, that’s poison to his core."

 

The figure's tone became softer as he said, "He cannot accept all of you now, Tom."

 

"No! No! I won't accept that! I won't!!!" Tom shouted, aiming his wand at the figure.

 

"Tom! Stop it!" Harry used his free hand to grab Tom's wrist, making sure not to touch the wand this time. Harry turned towards the figure and asked, "Is there anything we can do?!"

 

"Oh, of course. I do have all the answers." The figure smugly replied, dusting his grey robes of imaginary dusts.

 

Harry glared at him and hissed, "Then stop being an arrogant prat like your original and tell us."

 

"That arrogance is from you, dear." Voldemort drawled but kept his glare at the figure.

 

"Actually it's from both of you." The figure corrected before grinning at them, "Anyway, the solution is simple! My brother wants his happy ending and he can get it."

 

The figure tilted his head as he added, "Kinda."

 

"How?" Harry asked, "You said your original can't absorb him."

 

"I said he can't absorb all of him." The figure corrected in a singsong tone, making everyone in the room glare harder at him and that only made him grin, "What needs to happen is he simply needs to lose all of the magic he got from Ginerva before letting his memories be absorbed by our original."

 

"And how do I do that?" Tom spatted, "I can't just let go of this magic. It needs to be absorbed by another!"

 

The figure wiggled the hand currently holding Harry's hand and jerked his head towards Harry. Harry blinked and stared at the figure as he asked, "Me? I'm going to absorb Ginny's magic?!"

 

"Unlike our original's Dark core, yours is grey. Well… still grey, I should say. You can absorb her magic without any drastic repercussions." The figure explained, "It won't hurt or change you like it did your precious Tom. You’ll probably have easier time casting Light-based spells for a while but it won’t be permanent. I will also be by your core so I can take care of your magic if anything happens. So don't worry your pretty little head about it."

 

Harry glanced at Tom before turning to ask the figure, "If I do absorb Ginny's magic. What will happen to Tom?"

 

"Our original will be able to absorb his memories and he will get his happy ending." The figure said in a mocking tone, "An eternity with you in the form of the original."

 

"And Tom?" Harry pressed, tightening his hold on Tom's wrist.

 

"He is Tom, silly child." The figure said, "He will have Tom's memories. He will still be the same grumpy easily annoyed old man you've come to ‘adore’ of but he will have memories of the time you spent together with the diary you grew fond of. It might change him, it might not. That really just depends on him. The Horcrux you're worried about will... in the other hand, lose all those memories and his personality. It's like a reset button. He'll return to his initial soul state, void of any conscience or feelings whatsoever."

 

"That's..." Harry stared at Tom with fear in his eyes, "That's like you're signing off your own death sentence!"

 

"No, it's not." Tom replied, turning to stare at Harry. He lowered his hand and let his wand fall to the floor. He placed his hands on Harry's cheeks and said with a soft smile, "This is the only way we can have eternity, Harry. I'm just a Horcrux, an incomplete soul without any real body. The eternity we always talked about had always been for you and the real Tom Riddle, not an incomplete imitation of him."

 

"Stop saying foolish things, Tom!" Harry ordered, grabbing one of Tom’s wrists as he angrily said, "I never said I wanted an eternity with you!"

 

"And I never asked for your permission in the first place." Tom retorted with a smirk, "I told you. I always get what I want in the end."

 

The figure leaned forward and said, "Yeah, that one line is definitely a hundred percent Tom Riddle. Just to be clear."

 

Both Tom and Harry glared at him and he backed away as he said, "Okay, totally ruining the mood, I know. We're kinda on the clock here, by the way. Just... to be clear."

 

Tom raised his head to stare at Voldemort and asked, "If I let Harry take my magic, you'll accept my memories?"

 

Voldemort stared at him for a second before nodding, "Yes."

 

Tom smirked and said, "You won't regret it."

 

Voldemort glared at him and deadpanned, "Watching you act like a love-sick puppy is already making me regret it."

 

The figure shrugged and commented, "He'll probably return to normal after the magic is taken away from him."

 

Voldemort sighed tiredly and sat on the armchair the figure and Harry had been sitting on earlier as he ordered, "Take it, Harry."

 

 

Harry nodded and stared at Tom. They stared at each other for a couple of seconds before Harry awkwardly asked, "Er... how do I do that exactly?"

 

The figure leaned forward and whispered, "True love's first kiss."

 

Everyone glared at the figure who shrugged and said, "Unless you want to do the boring route of just holding each other's arms like what he was supposed to do to our original, be my guest."

 

"Oh." Harry turned to face Tom and said, "Well, that's ea- mmph!"

 

Harry's eyes widened when he felt Tom's lips on his, demanding and desperate as his tongue parted Harry's lips. An insistent tongue began demanding his attention as he felt Tom's hands around his waist in a bruising grip. Harry was about to pull away when he felt something start to course throughout his entire body.

 

Harry could feel Tom's emotions mixed in Ginny's magic.

 

Ginny's magic was warm and gentle, a great contrast to the dark feelings enveloped in it from Tom.

 

Harry moaned and placed his free hand on Tom's neck, tilting his head subconsciously to deepen their kiss. Tom's kiss was full of unhinged passion and desperation.

 

Harry could feel Tom's desire.

 

Tom truly did believe Harry was his. His to protect, his to nurture, his to possess.

 

It was frightening.

 

Harry had never known anyone feel so strongly about him.

 

He never thought anyone could.

 

But here was a boy, a foolish boy who truly did want Harry by his side, for all eternity.

 

And all Harry could think was...

 

Once all of Ginny's magic was gone from Tom, they finally parted. Tears were falling freely from Harry's eyes and he whispered to Tom in a sad soft voice, "You, Tom Marvolo Riddle, have given me the cruellest torture of all."

 

Tom's lips curved into a sad smile as he replied, "And I will continue to torture you with it until you finally find pleasure in it."

 

Harry snorted and pushed Tom away as he said, "Good luck with that, you prat."

 

Tom smirked at him as he retorted, "I have all eternity, my dear."

 

Harry simply looked down at the floor. Tom smiled softly at him and stepped towards him, kissing the top of his head before walking towards Voldemort. He offered his hand towards Voldemort and Voldemort stared at him silently for a second before taking his hand. Tom's entire body began to glow and he closed his eyes.

 

Harry turned to stare at Tom and shouted, "Tom!"

 

Tom opened his eyes and turned to stare at Harry. Harry smiled sadly as he said, "Murphy's law."

 

Tom chuckled and drawled, "Must you always have the final say, Harry?"

 

Harry could only watch as Tom's form slowly disappeared, leaving behind a small glowing sphere floating in mid-air. Harry took a step towards the sphere but the grip the hooded figure had on his hand stopped him, "Don't."

 

Harry turned to stare at the figure who said softly, "That's the Horcrux. If anyone other than the original touches it now, it'll latch onto them. You already have me and the only reason why I'm alive and you're still you is because I latched onto you while you were an infant. Your core was still developing. If you take another Horcrux now, your core will lash out and try to destroy it. It'll only destroy you instead."

 

Voldemort placed his hand below the sphere, palm up, and the sphere hovered over his palm. He turned to look at the figure as he asked, "Why didn't I absorb his piece?"

 

"You cannot have more than a hundred percent of your soul." The figure replied, staring at the sphere on Voldemort's hand, "The ritual Harry did forced Magic to make your soul whole once more. Rather than try to force your Horcruxes back, she decided to simply recreate the missing parts. I would assume she didn't want to force me out of Harry in fear of what may happen."

 

Voldemort nodded and stared at the sphere in his hand, "And you? Should I absorb your conscience as well?"

 

The figure smirked and replied, "That's not for you or for me to decide."

 

The figure walked till he was behind Harry and placed his free hand on Harry's shoulder as he said, "My memories are Harry's memories. If you absorb me, you'll have my memories of Harry growing up."

 

Harry froze at those words and the figure smirked as he said, "I'm sure you've realized Harry does not want that."

 

Voldemort raised his head to stare at Harry and Harry shook his head as he said, "Sorry, Tom. I can't... I..."

 

"I understand." Voldemort cut him off, covering the small sphere by closing his hand around it, "One day, Harry, you will let me see all of you."

 

Harry gave him a forced crooked smile as he replied, "I doubt it."

 

Voldemort's lips curved into a small smirk as he said, "I am willing to wait. We do have an eternity."

 

Harry's eyes widened as he recognized those words. Harry grinned as he playfully said, "Something tells me you've just turned more annoying than usual."

 

"Perhaps." Voldemort turned away from them, "Leave me. I need to reorganize my thoughts in peace."

 

"And that's our cue to exit stage left." The figure said, dragging Harry towards the open door, "Come along now, Harry my dear. Your exit is this way!"

 

Harry stared at Voldemort's back silently, wondering how Tom's memories would influence him now.

 

"Oh, he'll probably be the same grumpy old man with anger issues. Honestly, he needs a new outlet for that one." The figure replied to Harry's thought casually as he guided Harry through the small cupboard.

 

Harry raised his head to where the sphere was singing, still wondering why the song sounded so familiar to him.

 

The figure stopped on the wall where his rickety desk was. He looked at Harry expectantly and jerked his head towards the desk. Harry raised an eyebrow at that and the figure sighed exasperatedly. He pulled Harry down so they were both crouching. Harry blinked when he noticed that there was a hole under the desk.

 

"Wha-"

 

"That would be your exit back to the real world." The figure explained, staring at Harry expectedly.

 

"You want me to crawl into that hole?" Harry asked with a baffled expression on his face.

 

The figure raised his non-existing eyebrow and deadpanned, "No. I want you to stare at it for all eternity until some acid spitting alien grabs you and take you away from this dump. Yes, you adorable idiot. You crawl out of here through that."

 

"Why?" Harry asked in a high pitched voice.

 

The figure shrugged as he replied nonchalantly, "Your mind's unprotected. The hole is a representation of how easy it is to access your mind. Of course-"

 

The figure clapped his hands and the grey sky was suddenly replaced by the low ceiling Harry was so used to seeing. Harry blinked at the sudden darkness and could only hear the figure explain, "This is how intruders usually see your mind-space. By intruders, I really just mean Snape. Feel free to imagine Snape crawling into this place through that hole, by the way."

 

"Dumbledore never tried to see my mind?" Harry asked as he continued to blink his eyes as an attempt to get used to the darkness.

 

The figure snorted and sneered, "Dumbledore is too 'pure' for such a thing. He simply lets Snape do all the dirty work."

 

"Wow. I'm not sure if you don't like Dumbledore because you're Tom or because I've influenced you too much." Harry deadpanned while crawling towards the hole.

 

"Both." The figure grinned as he said, "Now, do try to keep out of trouble, my dear Harry. Don't go seducing Dark Lords now."

 

Harry yelped and turned to glare at the figure, "Did you just smack me on the arse, you paedophile?!"

 

The figure shrugged and drawled, "You've been a very bad influence to me. Now, shoo."

 

"I hate you." Harry sneered before finally continuing his crawl towards the hole.

 

"I love you too, sweetie-pie." The figure drawled, watching Harry enter the hole.

 

Once Harry had left his mind-space, the figure crawled back underneath the cot, lying in a foetal position as the dark grey robes dissolved into mist. He hugged his skinless body and closed his eyes, letting the sad soft song of Harry's magic lull him to sleep once more.

 

The first thing Harry saw when he opened his eyes were the worried faces of Theodore and Barty looming over him.

 

The first thing Harry said when he opened his eyes was "I hope none of you tried the true love's first kiss rubbish on me."

 

Barty and Theodore looked so relieved that all they said in reply was "Little Lord!"

 

Before Harry could move, he was engulfed in a manly hug by both overly emotional men. He groaned and tried to sit up as he said, "Yes, I'm fine. Yes, I know you were worried me but please... let me breath."

 

They let go immediately and Barty helped him sit. Harry groaned as his bones creaked at the sudden movement. Harry rubbed his eyes and asked, "How long was I out?"

 

"Half an hour at most." Theodore replied, grinning sheepishly as he added, "We missed curfew."

 

Harry snorted and said, "Won't be my first offense."

 

Harry looked around and saw Voldemort lying on the couch. Harry knew he should be offended they left him on the floor but it didn't matter. He rushed towards the unconscious wizard and knelt right next to him. He placed his hand on Voldemort's cheek, sighing in relief when he noticed it was warm to the touch, not the ice cold temperature he felt before.

 

"Don't worry, My Lord. He'll wake up soon." Luna said softly, sitting relaxed against one of the legs of the chair Harry usually sat in.

 

Harry smiled tiredly as he said, "I know. I just can't help but worry."

 

"Be careful, dear, you're starting to sound like you care."

 

Harry turned back to smile at Voldemort as the older wizard open his eyes slowly. Harry caressed his cheek once before dropping his hand as he replied, "I'd stop caring if you stop being foolish in the first place."

 

Voldemort snorted and flicked Harry's forehead as he said, "That should be my line, brat."

 

Harry rubbed his forehead as he continued to grin at Voldemort. Voldemort sat up and Theodore and Barty immediately knelt as Barty said, "My lord! It's good to see you in good health. We have been worr-"

 

"Enough." Voldemort interrupted with a tired sigh, "I would rather retire for the night rather than hear how you all panicked, Barty."

 

"Of course, my lord." Barty replied with a low bow.       

 

Voldemort stood and Harry hurriedly grabbed his arm when he noticed Voldemort swaying. Voldemort grabbed Harry's hand but did not lean away from the young wizard's touch. Voldemort turned towards Barty and ordered, "Barty, you'll be escorting us. That way, if any prefect or professors see them, you can say that you found them wandering and already gave them detention."

 

Barty bowed once more as he said, "Yes, my lord."

 

"Wait for us outside." Voldemort ordered, turning to glare at Luna as he added, "All of you."

 

Luna simply smiled dreamily at him and nodded. She stood and skipped towards the door, taking Barty on one arm and Theodore on the other. It looked a bit weird since Barty was still polyjuiced to look like Moody but the three managed to leave the room, leaving only Harry and Voldemort inside. Voldemort pulled Harry's hand and caressed the Ouroboros bracelet he had given Harry as a courting present as Marvolo Slytherin.

 

Harry watched Voldemort silently as he began to chant under his breath. Harry could not get any of the words Voldemort was using but he heard the hissing tone and realized that Voldemort was chanting in Parseltongue. Voldemort raised Harry's hand up and whispered to the bracelet. Harry's cheeks reddened slightly when Voldemort kissed the bracelet.

 

Harry's breath hitched when he felt his bracelet warm against his skin before becoming enveloped in Dark magic. The same alluring magic Harry felt with the diary.

 

Harry's eyes widened when he realized what Voldemort had done.

 

Voldemort's lips curved into a small smirk as he said in response to Harry's thoughts, "He wishes for an eternity with you. This is the least we can do for him."

 

Harry felt the Ouroboros bracelet slither tighter around his wrist and Voldemort let his hand go. Harry raised his hand to stare at the bracelet where the snake's eyes now burned bright blue. Voldemort watched Harry silently as the young wizard said mockingly, "Do you think you love me now as well?"

 

"Perhaps." Voldemort replied cryptically, "My Horcrux's feeling for you are too intense even for me. I am still trying to make sense of most of it."

 

Harry formed a fist and placed his hand over his chest, covering the bracelet with his other hand as he said to Voldemort stubbornly, "I don't love Tom."

 

Voldemort's lips curved into an amused smirk as he replied, "I never said you did."

 

"I..." Voldemort pressed his point finger by Harry's lips, stopping whatever Harry was about to say.

 

"It's strange, I admit." Voldemort said, tracing Harry's lips with his point finger, "His memories are easy to distinguish from my own but his feelings... they mix with mine and yet I do not feel offended or crossed over such thing. I barely feel any different to be honest."

 

Voldemort placed his hand on Harry's chin and admitted, "Had I met you when I was still Tom Riddle, perhaps my life would have been so different. Perhaps things would have been different for the better."

 

Voldemort forced Harry to look at him and leaned forward, "My feelings for you have changed, my dear Harry, and I find myself enjoying the change."

 

"Don't be stupid, Tom." Harry hissed, glaring at Voldemort, "Whatever feelings you possess for me is a weakness-"

 

"Attachment makes us weak." Voldemort interrupted him, "You were afraid to accept my Horcrux's affections because of that mentality of yours. You believed back then that Tom Riddle was a mediocre wizard. Why shouldn't you? Other than the diary and the Hogwarts trophy, there has never been any other news about Tom Riddle after he graduated from Hogwarts. That's why you refused his advances, his desire, and his offer of an eternity with him. You have no need for such weakness. But I am not weak, am I, Harry?"

 

"Only the strong can afford a weakness, my dear Harry." Voldemort leaned his forehead against Harry's as he continued, "And I am the greatest wizard in the world, wouldn't you agree?"

 

"Your ego is definitely the greatest of them all." Harry retorted but there was no bite in his words.

 

"I can afford such weakness, Harry." Voldemort whispered, "I can afford keeping these intense feelings for you."

 

"No. Stop it, Tom." Harry whispered, grabbing Voldemort's hand weakly.

 

"I can afford to fall in love with you." Voldemort continued, caressing Harry's cheek with his other hand.

 

"I can't." Harry whispered back, closing his eyes.

 

"You can't for now but..." Voldemort's lips curved to a small smile as he proclaimed, "We have an eternity ahead of us. I will make you fall in love with me, Harry. No matter how long it takes."

 

Harry opened his eyes out of surprise at Voldemort's next words, "So mote it be."

 

Both Voldemort and Harry glow for a second before Voldemort captured Harry's lips to a soft gentle kiss.

 

It was during that moment, Harry realized how deep Tom's feelings had been.

 

And how this cruel torture would continue to haunt Harry for eternity. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh god. I hope Voldemort's actions weren't too... OOC... I tried... I really did TTATT
> 
> Feel free to ask questions if Tom's or Voldemort's lines are a bit too vague. I would suggest reading "Musing of a Diary Horcrux" though. That may shed light to some of their lines. (especially Harry's 'cruellest torture' line)
> 
> The Harry!Horcrux has a similar personality as this fic's Harry, that's why he's so... energetic and playful. He probably won't make much appearance... probably. Depends...
> 
> Star Wars Episode 4: A New Hope was released in 1977 and Terminator 2 was released in 1991 so I'm not messing up the timeline. The alien bit is a reference to Alien which was released in 1979.


	31. The Ceremony

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It’s the day of Yule

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning:  
> 1 Unbeta’ed as usual  
> 2 Headcanon of traditional magical marriage ritual… thingie

Voldemort wasn’t lying when he said that the day of Yule itself would be the busiest day of all. Everyone was already worked up even when it was still morning. Even Daphne was busy with the rest of the girls, preparing for the ball or making sure everyone else was ‘perfect’.

 

Yes, _everyone_.

 

Not even the acting king Carrow could get away from Daphne and her female compatriots who had made it their sole duty to ensure the _entire_ Slytherin house was going to the ball perfectly.

 

Hell, even Draco looked like he had given up trying to get away and Harry last saw him getting pushed into one door after another while being berated for ‘not having perfect hair on the most important day of this year’ and ‘not even thinking about colour coordinating with his date, oh for Salazar’s sake!’.

 

Harry left the Slytherin common room soon after that, not feeling even a bit guilty by the sad puppy eyes Theodore was giving him.

 

He found solace in Barty’s quarters where the only ‘ball related’ discussion had been what Luna was going to wear when they pretend to go. It seemed Daphne had let her borrow some of her dresses and had ordered her to choose the dress that will complement Harry’s outfit most.

 

Harry may have forgotten to tell them he wasn’t going.

 

Oh well, it was better this way. If they didn’t know he and Luna weren’t going then no one can squeeze any information from them.

 

Harry had picked a light blue dress that brought out Luna’s eyes and threw it at her. She seemed happy to accept the dress and went to Barty’s bedroom to change. Voldemort had spent the day writing once more and Barty was there to organize the stack of rolled parchments Voldemort had finished.

 

It was amusing how much paperwork the big bad Dark Lord had.

 

Harry, on the other hand, had spent his day rereading the chapter about magical wedding. It wasn’t even called a wedding. It was mostly called a magical marriage ritual or a marriage bonding ritual. It was a very private event and mostly the only ones to be part of it were the two to be bonded and two ring bearers. Harry supposed Luna was to be his ring bearer.

 

It said the ring to be exchanged should belong to them.

 

Harry didn’t prepare a ring at all.

 

When he had said that to Voldemort, Voldemort assured him that he had Theonel pick a few rings weeks ago and Harry simply have to choose which ring to give to Voldemort for it to be counted.

 

It seemed Voldemort had prepared everything already. Harry wasn’t surprised. The older wizard was probably one of the most well-prepared wizards he ever had the pleasure of knowing.

 

They left Hogwarts a quarter to six in the evening. Everyone was already in a greater frenzy and was so busy that the three had no real problems leaving undetected. Once they were in Hogsmeade, Voldemort apparated the three of them.

 

It was as unpleasant as the first time Harry had the pleasure of traveling using it.

 

They appeared in a room with a fireplace in one wall and one single door on the opposite wall. There were no windows and Harry noticed the floor had a giant magic circle slightly hidden by a carpet. The door opened and Theonel bowed at them as he greeted, “Good evening, My Lord.”

 

“Harry!” Sirius shouted as he bummed into Theonel while running towards Harry. Theonel didn’t seem to mind and only narrowed his eyes at Sirius. Remus whispered an apology before walking towards Sirius and Harry. Sirius embraced Harry and whispered, “Hey. It’s good to see you again.”

 

Harry patted his back as he whispered back, “It’s good to see you too, Sirius.”

 

Sirius let go and Remus embraced Harry well while Theonel walk towards Voldemort and bowed as he informed, “Everything has been prepared, My Lord.”

 

“Good.” Voldemort stated before turning towards the two Marauders as he said, “We will hear your answer after the ritual.”

 

“About that.” Sirius turned to ask Harry, “Have you picked a ring?”

 

“Not yet.” Harry replied before turning towards Theonel as he remembered, “Theonel’s supposed to show me some rings?”

 

“It’s in the other room, Little Lord.” Theonel said, “Shall I get it?”

 

“No.” Sirius hurriedly said, making Harry tilt his head curiously as he stared at his godfather.

 

“I want you to use this, Harry.” Sirius said in a serious tone, offering Harry a small black box. Harry took the box and opened it, his eyes widening as he saw what was inside, while Sirius explained, “It’s one of the most ancient Black rings. I saw it in our Bulgarian house when I went there to hide for a few weeks. It’s ancient and it’s very, very dark.”

 

“Dark?” Harry repeated, not touching the ring inside. It was a simple silver band but there was an engraving etched on the outside. It wasn’t the alphabet nor was it ancient rune.

 

“There’s a curse placed on it.” Sirius explained, making Harry raised his head to stare at Sirius, “The engraving is supposed to be infused by an ancient and old magic. It says ‘only the deserving can safely bond with our blood’.”

 

Sirius turned his head towards Voldemort who was silently watching them and stated, “If you can marry Harry with this ring, I will accept your offer.”

 

“Sirius!” Harry exclaimed with wide eyes.

 

“I’ve heard of that ring.” Voldemort said calmly, making everyone stare at him, “Orion told me about a ring that supposedly kills all those who wear it, draining their core slowly before feasting upon their soul.”

 

Voldemort’s lips curved into a smug smirk as he said, “Very well, Black. I accept your condition.”

 

“Tom!” Harry exclaimed, walking towards Voldemort as he asked, “Are you sure about this?!”

 

Voldemort placed his hand on Harry’s cheek, caressing it softly as he proclaimed, “Do you think anyone else deserves to be with you more than you, my dear?”

 

“Careful, Love Tart, your ego is showing again.” Harry drawled instinctively, making Voldemort’s smirk grew.

 

Luna walked towards Harry and said with a smile, “I will hold it for you, My Lord.”

 

Voldemort dropped his hand and Harry closed the box before handing it to Luna as he said, “Thank you, my dear.”

 

Luna smiled dreamily at him as she took the box.

 

“And my ring, Theonel?” Voldemort inquired.

 

Theonel took out a small black box and showed it to Voldemort as he explained, “I have done what you have written line per line, My Lord.”

 

Voldemort took the box and opened it, observing whatever was inside for a few seconds. He nodded and closed the box, giving it to Theonel once more. He turned towards Harry and said, “We have to start the ritual, Harry. Come.”

 

“Okay.” Harry nodded and turned towards Sirius and Remus as he asked, “We’ll talk later?”

 

“Of course.” Sirius’ lips curved into a small smile as he joked, “Wouldn’t be a wedding without a feast, right?”

 

Harry grinned at them before following Voldemort out of the room, followed closely by Theonel and Luna.

 

He supposed Theonel was Voldemort’s ring bearer then.

 

They exited the room and walked a long hallway. They entered the door at the end of the hallway and Harry saw two sets of folded white robes on a table at the centre of the room. Theonel bowed as he said, “Lady Lovegood and I will be waiting in the ritual room.”

 

“Very well.” Voldemort said, taking off his outer robe. Theonel and Luna went out of the room via the only other door while Harry took off his own outer robe.

 

Harry took off his red sweater (courtesy of Molly Weasley) and placed it on the table. As he was unbuttoning his shirt, Voldemort stated, “We’ll be buying you new clothes proper of a wizard. None of these… muggle clothing.”

 

“I like them.” Harry commented lightly, turning to stare at Voldemort. Voldemort was already wearing the simple white robes Theonel had prepared, staring blatantly at Harry. Harry took off his shirt and placed it on the table as he continued, “You can buy me muggle clothes that fit me instead.”

 

Voldemort raised an eyebrow at the suggestion as Harry unbuckled his pants. Harry rolled his eyes as he unzipped them and compromised, “I promise to wear those Wizarding clothes when I’m out in public as your Consort.”

 

Voldemort handed the simple white robes as Harry took off his pants and ordered, “Take off your shoes as well.”

 

Harry shrugged and took off his shoes. He took off his socks as well, not bothered by being naked in front of Voldemort at all.

 

They were going to consummate this marriage today anyway. Being naked in front of him was the least of Harry’s ‘problems’.

 

Harry threw the socks on the table before taking the robes from Voldemort. He quickly wore the white robes, humming as he felt the silky fabric caress his body. Voldemort stared at Harry as he said, “We shall talk about your attire on a later date.”

 

Harry grinned at him and replied, “Already looking forward to that confirmation, Love Tart.”

 

Voldemort rolled his eyes and began walking towards the other door as he inquired, “You know what to do?”

 

“Keep quiet. Only speak when necessary.” Harry drawled, earning a nod from Voldemort. Harry chuckled as Voldemort opened the door, guiding him out of the room.

 

The ritual room was a bland dark room. There was a magic circle in the middle of the room that Harry could barely see. An altar was perched on top of an elevated platform with stairs. Other than the intricate magic circle, everything in the room was bland which was necessary to ensure that the ritual would not be compromised.

 

Harry wanted to comment that it wouldn’t hurt to have some light though but kept quiet.

 

Luna and Theonel were already at the innermost circle of the magic circle. Voldemort nodded at the two who knelt on both knees. Voldemort offered his hand to Harry who took it, letting Voldemort guide him into the dark room as the door behind them closed. They began walking towards the outermost circle and Harry became fascinated by the way the circle began to glow after they have passed it. They walked towards the magic circle in a spiral formation until they finally stepped into the innermost circle. The innermost circle glowed brightly for a second, blinding Harry, before making the same glow as the rest of the circle. Now, only the glowing magic circle was their source of light. Harry and Voldemort began walking towards the altar.

 

Harry knew that majority of the ritual was silent. He read upon the basics of the marriage ritual in the first book Voldemort made him read. The golden small basin in the altar in front of them already had the necessary ingredients in it. All that remained was their blood. A quick nonverbal and wandless Diffindo spell from Voldemort quickly took care of that, cutting their right palm. Voldemort went first, dropping three drops of blood into the centre of the basin. Afterwards, Harry dropped his own three drops. They returned to their proper place, by the edge of the stairs leading up to the stairs. The entire time, the magic circle followed their every step, making sure they remained in the innermost circle. Theonel and Luna stood and walked towards them, kneeling once they were inside the innermost circle again.

 

The basin began to fizzle three seconds after the last drop fell. Seven seconds later, black smoke began to seep out of the basin, making Harry raise an eyebrow.

 

One of the main reasons why the marriage ritual was ‘highly discouraged’ was because the one that will bless the union was always summoned from a higher plan of existence. Most call them the Gods of Old or the Ancient Gods but, of course, some of the muggle-borns did not like the practice of such a thing since it went against their ‘upbringing’. Some also thought it was too dangerous to summon such beings. They weren’t bound to the summoners and there have been cases of injuries and even death during the ritual.

 

These beings were fickle at best, dangerous at worst.

 

Black smoke didn’t sound like a good sign.

 

Harry turned towards Voldemort who turned towards him as well. He felt a foreign feeling of calmness inside him and the words written in those familiar writings ‘don’t worry’.

 

The whole ‘I’ll protect you’ bit was implied already.

 

The black smoke began to condense in the space between the altar and the stairs, whirling around viciously as it started to form a cocoon shaped as large as an average adult. The smoke began to float down slowly. When the end of the smoke touched the ground, the smoke turned into red petals, falling into the ground.

 

A figure clad in black robes stood where the smoke had been, its face covered by the hood of his robes. The only thing Harry could see were the pale hands peeking out of the sleeves of the robes.

 

The being turned slowly towards Voldemort and whispered in a hoarse yet gentle tone, “Tom, always a pleasure to see you.”

 

The being’s voice was male and it sounded very much familiar to Harry but he couldn’t place it.

 

The being tilted its head as he added, “I am surprised to be summoned by you though.”

 

The being turned towards Harry and sounded surprised as he said, “And you…”

 

The being was silent for a few seconds before speaking once more, almost in a distracted tone, “You are too young and I do not feel the stick nor did I hear it. You are not the Master nor have you used your magic yet here I am… “

 

The being turned to look behind him, staring at the altar for a moment. Then he looked back at them and whispered, "No."

 

Once more, he turned to look at the altar behind him as he repeated in an amused tone, "No!"

 

He turned towards the altar then at them once more as he stated in an amused tone, "You're getting married!"

 

The being clapped as he said, "That's fantastic! I'm so happy for you, Tom!"

 

Harry blinked and turned towards Voldemort. Voldemort turned towards him with an emotionless expression yet the slight furrowing of his brows gave his confusion away.

 

Voldemort obviously have no idea who this being was and was confused at the casual way he was treating him.

 

The being waved his hand as he added, "Oh, I don't mean I'm not happy for you-"

 

Something inside Harry made him understand that the being was now talking about him.

 

"-I just know you'll be fine regardless who you end up with." The being continued, "But our dear beloved Dark Lord here is a different story. Without someone to be there for him, he's pretty much screwed."

 

"I'm sorry but who are you?" Harry finally asked, unable to keep quiet anymore. Voldemort glared at him.

 

Harry could feel the being was grinning as he playfully replied, "I'm Batman."

 

Voldemort turned to stare at the being and the being added, "Of course you didn't get the reference. Am I years too early? Oh, who am I kidding? He's obviously a twink so it's definitely too early for that."

 

The being walked around the altar, dragging his pale fingers at the edges of the altar as he explained, "I have many titles, both as who I was before and what I am now."

 

The being stopped in front of the altar as he proclaimed, "Most just call me the God of Death."

 

Harry and Voldemort stared at him for a couple of seconds while Theonel looked ready to faint before Harry finally turned towards Voldemort and commented, "Wow. Our marriage is going to be blessed by Death."

 

"God of Death." The being corrected before adding nonchalantly, "Death's a whole different being. I'm kinda like Death's boss."

 

The being grabbed the basin with two hands and lifted it as he continued, "I've never blessed a marriage before so bear with me, okay? I know we decide what happens and how it's going to go but I've never bothered to know what they make people do. I do know Chaos and Fate have the highest body count though. Anyway, due to my lack of experience, I'm going to wing this."

 

The being walked towards them, descending the stairs slowly. With each step, a shadowy figure appeared behind them, making Theonel freeze and Voldemort step closer to Harry. Luna was the only person who seemed unaffected by the newcomers. By the time the being was in front of the pair, six shadowy beings were behind them. The shadowy figures glided around them, forming a circle with the four in the middle. The being whispered something into the basin and Harry heard the inside of the basin began to bubble as the figure commented, "Six reapers to form the circle and-"

 

Black smoke began to appear from the being's shadow, forming a whirling cocoon. The cocoon remained floating in the air and formed a shadowy figure clad in black robes as the being continued, "Death as the beginning and the end of the circle."

 

The shadowy figure called Death remained floating in the air yet everyone knew it was staring at them.

 

Foam began to slip out of the basin as the being continued, "You called the God of Death using the contents of this basin, an ancient ritual to call upon the one to bless your union."

 

The being raised the basin and whispered, "You don't need anyone blessing your union."

 

The being blew the foam and it dispersed towards the two, dissolving into dust as they reached them. The being turned the basin, showing its empty content as he continued, "I have returned all you have offered."

 

The being threw the basin behind him. The basin flew towards Death but stopped just a few inches before hitting the floating figure. The being paid it no heed as he proclaimed, "I will bless this union out of my own free will."

 

The six Reapers went on their knees as the being grabbed both of their right hands. He made Harry and Voldemort entwined their hands, pausing for a second when his hand graze against the Ouroboros bracelet and whispered, “Oh. I know you.”

 

Before Harry or Voldemort could react, the being placed his right hand on top of their entwined hands and his left hand below their entwined hands. His voice was curious and slightly awkward as he asked, "Did you guys prepare vows or something?"

 

Harry blinked and asked back, "We had to?"

 

"No, not really." The being replied nonchalantly, "If you did, now's the best time to say them."

 

"We've already said everything that we wanted to say." Voldemort stated, staring at Harry.

 

Harry smiled as he added, "And anything we have to say, we can say anytime."

 

"Wow. That actually makes me jealous." The being commented playfully yet Harry felt an ache in his chest. It was too sudden for him to process completely and he could only watch as light envelop their hands. The being moved his hands, the light following them. As the hands move, a wispy string like light remained where the light had been, forming a loose knot around their entwined hands. The being dropped his hands and explained, "The string represents the bond you shall have after this ritual. Remember that this ritual would open your core and your mind to one another. Once this ritual is over, not even Death can separate you."

 

The figure turned towards Voldemort as he playfully added, "Of course, you've already taken care of that."

 

Voldemort stared at him quietly and the figure turned to face the two of them as he continued playfully, "Last chance, boys. Just let go and we'll pretend this never happened."

 

Voldemort glared at him and the being turned towards Harry. Harry smiled and shook his head, instinctively gripping Voldemort's hand tighter.

 

“Okay then.” The being proclaimed cheerfully before chanting in some kind of language Harry didn’t understand.

 

It took a moment before Harry realized that the being was chanting in different languages. Some words sounded like English while some sounded foreign.

 

It reminded him of the song he always sang when he was bored.

 

The chanting lasted for just a minute and the wispy string light began to tighten around their hands before disappearing, looking as if they were absorbed into the skin. The being raised his hands and said, “The rings.”

 

Theonel and Luna walked towards the being, kneeling on each side as they opened their respective boxes. The being stared at the ring in Theonel’s hand for a moment before turning towards Voldemort, commenting casually, “A fine choice, Tom.”

 

Voldemort raised an eyebrow at the comment but kept quiet as the being took the ring from inside the box. The being gently placed the ring on Harry’s ring finger, making sure their hands were still entwined, as he proclaimed cryptically, “A ring of great history, a gift to the second brother and the caller of souls awaiting their next journey.”

 

Harry tilted his head, noticing Voldemort’s slight confusion as well, but both of them remained quiet as the being turned towards Luna. The being paused for a moment, staring at the ring inside the box, before commenting, “Well now, this is awkward.”

 

The being took out the ring and stared at it as he commented casually, “I suppose it makes sense to give such a ring to our favourite Dark Lord.”

 

There was an almost inaudible snort and Harry swore it came from Death.

 

The being moved their entwined hands so that Voldemort’s hand was on top. He placed the ring on Voldemort’s ring finger as he proclaimed cryptically, “A ring of grave history, a creation of a madman longing for his lost love and the devourer of poor souls lost forever.”

 

The being returned their entwined hand to the original position of Harry’s hand on top and dropped his hands. The rings began to glow and Harry’s breath hitched as he felt something.

 

Something…

 

It was hard to explain.

 

The foreign presence of Voldemort inside him felt… no longer foreign. As if it belonged there.

 

He also felt magic not his own coursing through his entire body, powerful and seductive.

 

And surprisingly, soothing…

 

Voldemort had closed his eyes and Harry felt something become warmer around his…

 

No. Around Voldemort’s ring finger…

 

The being placed his hand on Voldemort’s forehead, whispering in that strange language once more and Harry closed his eyes as he felt foreign magic course through his body and his own ring began to vibrate.

 

It was overwhelming and suffocating yet Harry could feel the loneliness hidden inside.

 

Harry could feel something awfully familiar inside all that magic but he couldn’t place what it was.

 

The ring grew hotter as time passed by but then it began to cool down. The being stopped whispering and dropped his hand, his face turned towards Voldemort as he took a step back. Both Voldemort and Harry opened their eyes.

 

“It will take some time but I am sure you will be able to harness the magic inside your ring.” The being commented casually to Voldemort, “Whoever decided to give you that ring really wanted to you to have more power.”

 

“He actually wanted to see if Tom deserves the ring.” Harry corrected, surprised by the hoarseness of his own voice.

 

It sounded very similar to the being’s voice right now. The being chuckled lowly before commenting, “Yes, the description did say that, didn’t it? Only those who deserve to bond to one with necromantic blood may wear the ring.”

 

“Wait.” Harry turned towards the being and asked, “It’s about necromantic blood, not about Black blood?”

 

The being shrugged as he replied, “Well, it’s more accurate to say it’s about the Blacks with necromantic blood. I’m not surprised the entire warning is lost by now. That ring was only meant to be worn by someone who marries a necromancer in the traditional marriage bonding ritual. It finds the Black core with necromancy in it and if it doesn’t find it, it will suck the wearer’s core before devouring the soul. The soul will be lost forever while the cores will be kept as reserve magic for its proper wearer. Simply because you two share a core now does not mean that Tom will have easy access to necromancy. It will open the door to the higher Death magic spells and rituals but it will also give greater strain on his core. The ring is meant to mitigate the extra strain if he does decide to pursue that branch of magic.”

 

The being shrugged as he nonchalantly said, “I’m sure you two will figure it out as you go along.”

 

The being turned towards Voldemort and warned, “But use baby steps if you do pursue it, Tom, and always check for any signs of magical exhaustions. Many spouses became bedridden or dead because they went in too fast.”

 

The being turned towards Harry and added nonchalantly, “You, on the other hand, can go as wild as you want. Your core was meant for necromancy anyway.”

 

Before the two could react, the being clapped his hands and said, “Now then! The bonding ritual is over and done. Both of your cores and mind space should be busy merging or something right now so I highly recommend, note: order, that you two do not do any strenuous magical activities for the next twenty-four hours. Maybe even forty to be safe.”

 

Death cleared it throat and the being sighed before adding, “Okay, fine.”

 

The being raised both of his hands and proclaimed, “The God of Death blesses this union. No being, human or not, will be able to break it. All who dare shall receive the swift judgment of Death itself.”

 

Both Harry and Voldemort glowed as the being finalized, “So mote it be.”

 

The glow brightened for a second before slowly disappearing while the being dropped his hands. The being tilted his head as he said, “You may kiss… eerr… one another, I guess.”

 

Death shook its head and a bony hand smacked its hooded head while the being argued, “Well, it’s not like I can say ‘you may kiss the bride’ since there is no bride here anyway.”

 

The being waved his hands at the two and drawled, “Well, what are you waiting for? Go on. Snog already.”

 

Harry turned towards Voldemort who stared back at him with a slightly annoyed expression. Harry guessed his big bad Dark Lord was getting exhausted by how nonchalant and cryptic the God of Death was. Harry’s lips curved into a fond smile and he grabbed Voldemort by the fabric of his robes, pulling him towards him and tilting his head as he closed his eyes. He felt Voldemort place his hands on his waist and pulled him closer, capturing his lips.

 

Voldemort’s kiss was soft and gentle yet Harry could feel Voldemort’s restrain inside him.

 

That’s why he opened his mouth and nipped Voldemort’s bottom lip lightly.

 

Voldemort growled and deepened their kiss, his tongue demanding passage into Harry’s mouth. Harry welcomed the foreign tongue, shyly caressing it with his own.

 

Voldemort’s emotions were foreign inside him yet the more he gave in, the more Harry felt… exalted. He wanted to feel more of it.

 

He wanted to feel everything Voldemort had to offer.  

 

They barely heard the being’s gentle voice, “Congratulations. May fortune smile for you for all of eternity.”

 

The being stared at the two for a few more seconds before he turned into a mass of condensed red petals. A second later, every petal fell to the ground. The shadowy figures dissolved into the shadows while Death turned into smoke, disappearing slowly, leaving the four magical people alone in the ritual room.

 

Luna walked towards where Death had been and caught the basin before it fell on the ground.

 

Inside the basin was a bouquet of red spider lilies.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Meaning of Red Spider Lilies (according to the Japanese flower language):  
> “Passion”, “Independence”, “To Meet Once More”, “Reconciliation”, “Rebirth”, “You are the only one I think about”, “I look forward to seeing you once more” and “Painful memories”.
> 
> Yes, The God of Death was referencing ‘Supernatural’ with the “I’m Batman” reply. To be exact: Season 3, Episode 3 which first aired in 2007. This means the God of Death either travels through time or he’s been to a dimension where it’s already 2007 or more. (Or you know… he actually visited the Supernatural universe and had a chat with that Death)
> 
> Those who think they know the God of Death… yes, it is him. Those who are still confused about who he is, I suggest reading some of my other HP works. XD
> 
> Oh man. I hope the ritual was okay…? 
> 
> By the way, I’m sorry if you guys thought it was going to have the consummation. We’ll get there. Soon. Like… really soon. XD


	32. Celebration

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What’s a marriage without it, right?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you HeilHydra for telling about my wrong word usage in the seating arrangement XD
> 
> Warning:  
> 1 Unbeta’ed as usual  
> 2 Prepare yourselves… I guess?

When they returned to the room they apparated from, Sirius’ first words as he stared ludicrously at Voldemort were “You’re still alive.”

 

Voldemort simply raised an eyebrow as he deadpanned, “Try making your voice more high-pitched, mutt, and you’ll sound exactly like Walburga.”

 

Sirius grimaced at the comment while Harry skipped towards him, hugging him. Sirius instinctively embraced him back. When Harry pulled away, he grinned at Sirius and said cheerfully, “Thank you for the ring, Sirius. It was just so brilliant!”

 

“It… is…?” Sirius asked with a confused look on his face.

 

Harry hummed in agreement before turning towards Voldemort, making sure to smile happily as he explained, “The ring gives my husband a few magical reserves. It’s perfect for his world-domination plans!”

 

“WHAT?!” Sirius cried out in a high pitched tone.

 

Theonel raised an eyebrow as he commented lightly, “I instinctively took a step back. You’re right as always, My Lord. He does sound like Walburga if he changes the pitch of his voice.”

 

Voldemort nodded before offering his arm to Harry as he said, “Come now, Harry. We still have a dinner to attend to.”

 

“I am a bit peckish.” Harry commented as he skipped towards Voldemort.

 

Harry wrapped his arm around Voldemort’s offered arm, mimicking the actions he had done to Marvolo a few days before, and let Voldemort lead him to the other door in the room. Theonel and Luna immediately followed after them. When they were about to reach the door, Theonel walked faster and reached it before them. He bowed as he opened the door, stepping to the side so that Voldemort and Harry could pass. Instead of walking out, Voldemort stopped and turned towards the two Gryffindors staring at them. He raised his eyebrow as he ordered, “Come.”

 

Voldemort didn’t bother to wait for a reply and began walking once more. Harry turned his upper body to stare at them and grinned as he nudged his head towards his front, silently telling them to follow them as well. Sirius and Remus stared at one another for a moment before Sirius shrugged and began following them. Remus opened his mouth but didn’t say anything. Instead he sighed and shook his head before following Sirius.

 

They passed by another hallway and Theonel opened the door at the end, leading to an elegant dining room. Warm orange painted the ceiling and walls while a dark brown wood covered the floors. At the middle of the room was a rectangular dark red-brown table with eight chairs carved from the same wood as the table. The light came from the glowing leaves of a tree attached to the ceiling, its branches reaching up to each ends of the ceiling, casting a warm light all over the room.

 

Voldemort walked up to the head of the table and pulled the seat on his left. Harry smiled at him as he sat on the offered seat. Once Harry was comfortably seated, Voldemort sat on the head of the table. Theonel sat on his right and Luna nodded at Harry with a smile before sitting next to Theonel. Harry raised an eyebrow at Luna’s choice but realized why she had done it when Sirius sat on his left, followed immediately by Remus. If Luna had sat on his left, Sirius or Remus would have been forced to sit on the tail of the table or next to Theonel, making this more awkward than it already was.

 

Theonel clapped his hands once and Harry heard the distinct popped of House-elf magic. The entire table became filled with different kinds of food ranging from appetizers up to desserts. Most especially… the plate of Treacle Tart right in front of him. Harry immediately reached out for his sweet seducer but Voldemort’s hand shot out like a snake aiming for the kill, grabbing Harry’s wrist. Harry turned towards him, his argument about to leave his mouth when Voldemort stated, “If you fill your plate with food that are not desserts first and eat all of them, that entire plate of Treacle Tarts is yours.”

 

Harry blinked at Voldemort while Remus stuttered, “What? That’s not healthy!”

 

“Deal.” Harry grinned and began filling his plate.

 

Voldemort watched Harry place a medium rare Top Sirloin on his plate as he explained, “This is better than letting him do everything in his power to get to the Treacle Tart and not eat anything else.”

 

Harry grinned at Voldemort as he said coyly, “You know me too well, Love Tart.”

 

Voldemort hummed, watching Harry scoop a cup of mashed potato on his plate as well. Luna took a small bowl and filled it with creamy stew before placing it next to Harry’s plate while Sirius asked in a slightly mocking tone, “I’m surprised you’re not doing the ‘elegant dining’ style of the purebloods.”

 

“It’s only us. I wouldn’t say any of us need the unnecessary popping of our food every time we finish.” Voldemort replied nonchalantly, nodding at Theonel when he poured wine on Voldemort’s goblet while Harry seemed to think for a moment, looking at the rest of the dishes on the table. He took a piece of buttered cream dory before presenting it to Voldemort while Luna filled his goblet with some kind of juice, cranberry based on the colour. Voldemort grabbed a nearby plate of steamed vegetables and put about a cup of it in Harry’s plate, letting it drop onto the cream dory. He placed the plate back on the table and nodded at Harry. Harry grinned and began eating, making Sirius and Remus stare at the two while Voldemort took a piece of Top Sirloin for himself as he stated, “Finish the stew first.”

 

Harry chewed the piece of carrot he had in his mouth for a moment before gulping then turned his attention towards the stew. Once Voldemort ate a piece of his steak, Theonel and Luna began filling their plate as well, making Remus and Sirius act as well. As Sirius was placing a generous amount of mashed potato on his plate, he asked, “So no big announcement to your Death Eaters? Isn’t a wedding a big thing?”

 

Voldemort sipped his goblet, raising an eyebrow when Harry lightly moaned after eating a piece of the cream dory. Harry placed a piece of buttered cream dory on Voldemort’s plate silently before returning to eating while Voldemort placed the goblet back on the table as he answered, “I will announce it to my followers soon but not right now. I have other plans for such an event.”

 

Sirius stared at him for a moment, watching the Dark Lord cut a piece of the cream dory before eating it, “We’re not joining you.”

 

“I know.” Voldemort replied in a calm tone, taking the plate of steamed vegetables and placing some in his plate.

 

“Then why are you telling us your plans?” Sirius asked with narrowed eyes, making Harry snort.

 

Sirius and Remus turned to face Harry who grinned at them. He scooped a fork full of mashed potato as he said, “He’s not really telling you his plans. He’s just answering your questions vaguely.”

 

Voldemort hummed in agreement, eating a piece of broccoli, while Harry returned to eating. Sirius took the thigh of the roasted chicken as he asked, “What do you have plans for us?”

 

“Just stay hidden until the end of Harry’s school year.” Voldemort ordered, “I would offer Theonel’s home as a continued residence but there’s a high possibility Dumbledore or some of his birds will check this place once they learned Harry is not in school.”

 

“You left school without permission?” Remus asked with wide eyes.

 

“They were mandatorily making us stay for a stupid dance.” Harry explained with a shrug, “I’d rather get married.”

 

Remus’ jaw slacked while Sirius covered his mouth, snickering lightly for a moment before stating, “Oh, can you imagine McGonagall’s face once she learns that Prongslet ran away to get hitched? Oh. I would pay to see that!”

 

Harry grinned as he asked playfully, “How much?”

 

Sirius actually looked thoughtful, making Remus smack his arm lightly as he scolded, “Don’t pay your godson for something like that!”

 

“Speaking of Minnie.” Theonel started, staring at Voldemort as if waiting for permission. When Voldemort simply sipped his goblet once more, Theonel continued, “Do you have any plans concerning her, My Lord?”

 

“None as of this moment.” Voldemort replied as he returned the goblet to the table. He began cutting his steak as he asked, “Why do you ask?”

 

“She sent me a few letters since Marvolo Slytherin’s appearance.” Theonel explained, “She’s very curious about Marvolo Slytherin’s history and who he’s mother was.”

 

Harry noticed Voldemort had become thoughtful yet hid in his usual face of calm collected disinterest while Sirius asked curiously, “Why would she send you a letter?”

 

Theonel stared at Sirius for a moment, looking as if he was debating if he should answer or not. It was Voldemort who answered for him, “Minerva was once one of my knights.”

 

Remus and Sirius’ eyes widened. Hell. Harry’s eyes would have widened as well had he not been focused on finishing his plate.

 

As he was chewing a piece of his steak, his mind finally caught up to him and all he could think was: wait… what?

 

Voldemort ate a piece of his steak, letting the two Gryffindors stare at him with wide surprised eyes for a moment and Harry to keep eating in stunned silence. Once he had gulped the piece down, Voldemort continued, “She was the only one who left once it became apparent that we were taking a more violent route.”

 

“And she went straight to Dumbledore.” Theonel hissed, glaring at his own plate. Luna placed a small plate filled with a piece of flan next to him. Theonel blinked and turned towards the silent girl who was smiling gently at him. Theonel returned the smile and nodded as a sign of gratitude.

 

“Minerva has always been too…” Voldemort paused for a second before finishing in a slightly mocking tone, “… gentle.”

 

“She’s a formidable duellist.” Remus defended.

 

“It does not mean that one is weak when they are gentle.” Voldemort retorted calmly, “I simply mean that her morals made her incompatible with our aggressive approach.”

 

“And will you be doing an aggressive approach still?” Remus asked cautiously.

 

“Perhaps not.” Voldemort mused while Harry ate his last piece of the steak, “It will depend on how our visit to Gringotts goes.”

 

Voldemort didn’t bother to look at Theonel as he ordered, “Do as you like. Reply if you wish.”

 

“Thank you, My Lord.” Theonel bowed lightly and Harry watched the two as he finished his mashed potato.

 

“What are your plans for our community anyway?” Sirius’ eyes narrowed as he asked, “Death to all muggle-borns?”

 

Voldemort rolled his eyes while Theonel glared at him and Harry began finishing the cream dory and steamed vegetables. Voldemort finished his steak as well before replying, “I’m sure many of the traditional pure-bloods believe such foolish ideology and have made it my own but, I assure you, I do not want to spill unnecessary magical blood.”

 

Voldemort sipped his goblet while Harry finished his cream dory before continuing, “My long time goal is the total separation of the magical world to the muggle world and the inclusion of muggle-borns as soon as possible and employment for both squibs and persons with creature status.”

 

Sirius and Remus seemed surprised by the answer and both Voldemort and Harry began eating the vegetables. Voldemort finished the carrot in his mouth before continuing, “As long as our people, squibs included, continue to stay in the muggle world, the risk of exposure remains.”

 

“So?” Sirius asked while Harry showed his clean plate to Voldemort.

 

Voldemort nodded at Harry, making Harry grin as he grabbed the plate of Treacle goodness. Remus opened his mouth, most probably to stop Harry, but Voldemort used that moment to place a small vial the size of Harry’s thumb filled with some kind of silvery blue liquid in front of Harry as he ordered, “Drink that then you can start devouring your favourite sweet.”

 

“Okay.” Harry said without hesitation, opening the cap of the vial.

 

Watching Harry, Remus warned, “Wait. You don’t even know what that is!”

 

Harry threw his head back as he drank all of the liquid in one big gulp. Harry licked his lips as he said, “Tasted like honey and roses.”

 

Voldemort raised an eyebrow as he asked curiously, “You know what a rose taste like?”

 

“It tasted like the smell of roses.” Harry corrected with a shrug.

 

“What did you give him?” Sirius asked, narrowing his eyes at Voldemort.

 

“A fertility potion.” Voldemort answered calmly, “It increases the chance of getting impregnated during the next twenty four hours by fifty percent. Impregnation of a wizard is around three percent at most, ten if the two wizards are married traditionally.”

 

“Impreg-“ Sirius stuttered, his eyes widening as he exclaimed, “You’re not having sex with my godson!”

 

Harry began to eat his entire plate of sweet heaven while Voldemort glared at Sirius as he proclaimed, “We will and Harry will be pregnant before the end of Yule.”

 

“Pre-Preg-“ Sirius was lost of words for a second before he shouted, “He’s fourteen, for Godric’s sake!”

 

“I know.” Voldemort retorted with a face and tone that only screamed ‘I’m talking to an idiot’.

 

Harry remained silent, enjoying his piece of heaven, while Sirius shouted, “You can’t be serious! Teenage pregnancy is dangerous!”

 

At this, Theonel rolled his eyes and asked mockingly, “Are you a muggle, Black? Teenage pregnancy has some risk, yes, but only if they are not handled with proper magical care and continuous medical assistance. Not to mention, the magical core of my lord alone could easily develop the child’s core and body.”

 

“Then why don’t he be the pregnant one?!” Sirius snapped, making Remus’ eyes widened and Theonel’s jaw slacked at the idea alone.

 

Harry couldn’t help it. He began to laugh. They all turned towards him while Voldemort sighed and shook his head. Harry grinned at Sirius as he asked playfully, “Do you honestly believe our dear big bad Dark Lord is going to let himself be the male seahorse, Sirius?”

 

When Sirius stared at Harry with furrowed confused brows, Remus whispered, “Male seahorses are the one that gets pregnant instead of the females.”

 

“Oh.” Sirius said with a nod.

 

“That would be my job.” Harry cheerfully wagged his fork towards Voldemort as he added, “Not to mention, he’s the one with the permanent target on his back and needs to be around a lot of people. I, on the other hand, have no problems locking myself in a room after Hogwarts. Honestly, I enjoy not having to pretend I like talking to people.”

 

Sirius and Remus were lost of words at that admission.

 

“It’s better for Harry to be the carrier of our child.” Voldemort added calmly, “It’s easier if I protect him and our unborn child than if I have to carry the child myself. It’s simply too risky for me.”

 

Harry returned to eating while the entire room enveloped in an awkward kind of silence as the rest started to eat as well with Luna and Voldemort being the only ones not affected. Once Harry was halfway finished, he added, “We’re planning on having you two as our child’s godfathers by the way.”

 

Sirius and Remus stared at Harry and Remus choked out, “Really?”

 

“Yes, it was part of our deal.” Harry explained casually.

 

“Ah, I just remembered.” Voldemort turned towards Theonel and ordered, “Theonel, the package.”

 

“Yes, My Lord.” Theonel bowed and stood. He began walking towards the door and the door automatically opened before he was even a foot away from it. When Theonel walked out, the door closed behind him.

 

Voldemort turned towards Harry and hissed, “<< I have a present for you in exchange. >>”

 

Harry tilted his head slightly, the fork resting between his lips, as he hissed back curiously, “<< A present? >>”

 

The door opened once more and Theonel walked inside and Harry heard a female hiss, “<< Master! >>”

 

Harry was momentarily confused at the voice and blinked when he realized that a huge black snake was slithering towards them. Harry didn’t even notice Theonel walking towards Sirius, too preoccupied by the large snake coiling around Voldemort’s seat as she hissed happily, “<< I have missed you, Master. Your old knight was more respectful than that fat rat but he keeps giving me rats. I want rabbit, Master. Fat juicy rabbits I can chase…”

 

The snake stopped and her head turned towards Harry. The snake slither towards Harry, staring intently at Harry’s face as she hissed, “<< Who is this, Master? He smells like you. >>”

 

Harry stared at the snake curiously, remembering it was the same snake he had dreamed of just this summer. Voldemort caressed the snake’s coiled body as he hissed, “<< This is Harry, my mate. Harry, this is Nagini, my familiar. >>”

 

Harry nodded as he hissed, “<< It’s nice to meet you, Nagini. >>”

 

“<< Harry. >>” Nagini repeated, tilting her head slightly as she remembered, “<< Master promised I could eat you. >>”

 

Harry raised an eyebrow but kept quiet as Voldemort stated, “<< No, you cannot eat, Harry, my dear. Harry is my mate now. He will bear my hatchling soon. >>”

 

Nagini and Harry began to have a silent staring contest and there was no way Harry was going to lose.

 

Voldemort just called her ‘my dear’!

 

That was Harry’s pet name!

 

Remus’ gasp went unnoticed by Harry but Sirius’ shout did.

 

“Wormtail!” Sirius shouted, standing up.

 

Harry couldn’t help it. He turned towards Sirius, looking for the rat.

 

And he found the same rat unmoving in a rat cage currently in Theonel’s hands.

 

“He’s in a magical coma.” Voldemort explained at the two Marauders, “Do as you will with him. Kill him or bring him to the ministry. It matters not to me.”

 

“What are you planning?!” Sirius hissed, glaring at Voldemort.

 

“Part of our agreement was Wormtail to be delivered to you.” Voldemort explained calmly, “Do as you desire with him.”

 

Theonel offered the caged rat to Sirius silently. Sirius simply stared, looking as if he was unable to process what was happening right now. It was Remus who took the cage from Theonel’s hands, mumbling a weak “Thank you?”

 

“<< I don’t like him. >>” Nagini finally hissed, making Harry turn to face the snake once more. Nagini was still staring at him as she hissed, “<< He’s far too skinny, all skin and bones. There are better possible mates, Master. >>”

 

“<< Excuse me?! >>” Harry hissed, glaring at the snake. Sirius could feel the hair at the back of his neck stand at the tone of Harry’s voice.

 

Voldemort caressed Nagini’s head as he hissed, “<< Harry is the perfect mate, my dear. >>”

 

The sounds that left Nagini sounded so much like a snort and the snake hissed, “<< How would you know, Master? You never looked for a mate before. What reason could you have for deciding on this little hatchling already without looking at others first? >>”

 

Harry’s jaw slacked and he just stared at the snake as she continued, “<< Please reconsider, Master. >>”

 

Voldemort rubbed the bridge of his nose as he hissed back, “<< There is nothing to consider, Nagini. Harry is already my mate and it cannot be undone. >>”

 

“<< So you’re saying if it can be undone, you would undo it? >>” Harry hissed, glaring at Voldemort.

 

Voldemort stared at Harry and gently hissed, “<< That’s not what I mean, Harry. >>”

 

Harry stood and screeched, “Tom Marvolo Riddle!”

 

Sirius actually took a step back, a reaction honed since his childhood at the sound of his mother-

 

Wait.

 

What?

 

Harry pointed at the snake as he screeched, “Are you just going to let that snake talk to me like that?!”

 

Remus swore a banshee had a lovelier voice than Harry right now.

 

Voldemort stood as well, his hands raised by his chest with the palms up as he gently said, “Harry, my dear-“

 

“Don’t you ‘my dear’ me, Tom Marvolo Riddle!” Harry sneered, glaring at the Dark Lord, “You’re calling that snake ‘my dear’ as well. Is that it? Am I in the same level as a bloody snake?!”

 

Sirius was having flashback of the many arguments (‘one-sided screaming sessions’) of his parents while Theonel was having similar flashbacks of the many screams Walburga Black had made, most often to poor Orion or to ‘always-bored’ Dorea.

 

“Nagini is not just any snake-“

 

Noticing Theonel wince made Voldemort realize that he just said the wrong thing.

 

“Of course she’s not, is she?!” Harry sneered, poking Voldemort on the chest as he hissed, “And your bloody familiar just insulted me and here you are taking her side!”

 

“I am not taking her side.” Voldemort defended, keeping his voice gentle yet it did not make Harry lessen his current glare.

 

“<< You show respect to Master! >>” Nagini hissed at Harry.

 

“<< Hush, Nagini. >>” Voldemort hissed, placing his hand on Nagini’s head.

 

Harry glared at Voldemort as he sneered, “You know what, Tom? Since you seem to like your damn familiar more, go consummate our marriage with her tonight!”

 

Harry walked out of the room, slamming the door open then slamming it close behind him.

 

All of the men stared at the closed door. It was Sirius who asked ludicrously, “What in seven hells just happened?”

 

Luna smiled as she explained, “My Lord just met his mother-in-law.”

 

Theonel winced as he commented, “Ah. That explains that.”

 

“Is no one going to comment about how Harry sounded so much like my mother just now?!” Sirius asked loudly.

 

“Black blood.” Voldemort and Theonel replied at the same time, making Sirius sputter incoherent words while Remus nodded sagely.

 

“My Lord, if I can be frank.” Theonel requested, waiting for Voldemort to say something. Voldemort simply covered his eyes and waved his hand towards Theonel. Theonel bowed before suggesting, “It would be to the best of your interest to run after him, grovel and beg forgiveness.”

 

“Grovel.” Voldemort repeated in a hissing tone as he raised his head to glare at Theonel. Nagini also stared at Theonel and hissed.

 

“If you wish to consummate your marriage…” Theonel stressed his next words, “… _at all_ , you will grovel and ask forgiveness, My Lord.”

 

Theonel raised an eyebrow as he added, “Take this as the suggestion of a husband who was at the same situation as you are right now.”

 

Theonel’s words turned to have a slight mocking tone as he added, “Of course, my wife was a saint compared to Walburga Black…”

 

And that was the final strike.

 

Voldemort silently stood, walking briskly out of the room.

 

“<< Master! >>” Nagini hissed, uncoiling from his chair and slithering towards him.

 

Voldemort summoned ten fat rabbits nonverbally and wandlessly and they began hopping all over the room. Nagini hissed happily and began chasing after them while one rabbit hopped right on top of Sirius’ head.

 

Luna sat on the floor, grabbing the fluffy white rabbit as Sirius shouted, “Seriously?! What happened?!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I got the idea of the light tree from Tales of Xillia (awesome game)
> 
> Okay, I was planning on adding the consummation in this chapter but my little sister is currently next to me and I think she’s reading this so… sorry XD
> 
> Mother-in-law!Nagini sounds fun to write about so I made her like that. XD
> 
> As for the misleading warnings and summary:  
> Were you guys prepared for the reappearance of mini-Walburga? XD  
> And what’s marriage without a nagging mother-in-law, am I right? XD


	33. Wanting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry wanted more of what Voldemort could give. Voldemort wanted him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning:  
> 1 Unbeta’ed as usual  
> 2 32 chapters later, the reason for this to be Explicit is finally achieved  
> 3 Voldemort forgot to tell Harry something about the potion he drank

He found Harry in one of the guest room in the 3rd floor, sitting on the couch facing the warm fireplace. Harry's brows were furrowed and Voldemort could feel the confusion coursing through their link. His mind however was singing various muggle nursery rhymes, much to Voldemort's chagrin. There was a slight whispering accompanying the singing but the blasted nursery rhymes were drowning it out.

 

It was fascinating, really. Harry may not have proper training in occluding his mind but he managed to create his own protection and he seemed to be doing it instinctively. Most of the time, it was muggle nursery rhymes. Other times, it was that strange song. The effect was the same, of course. The songs drowned out his thoughts. Unfortunately for Harry, he seemed to be unable to continuously do it while awake and only seemed to happen when Harry was distracted.

 

Voldemort stayed by the door for a few minutes, simply staring at Harry. The amber glow of the fire created an ephemeral glow on him. His unruly black hair, vibrant green eyes and the simple white robes only serve to make him look like one of those angels decorating the stained glass windows of the church they always went to during Sunday in his youth.

 

At the silent reminder of his past, Voldemort shook his head and finally entered the room, closing the door behind him quietly.

 

It wasn't silent enough though because Harry stated without looking away from the fireplace, "Something is wrong with me."

 

Voldemort walked towards him as he continued, "I just made a fool out of myself in front of so many people."

 

Voldemort stopped right next to Harry, listening quietly as he added in a confused but equally amused tone, "I made you choose between me and a bloody snake."

 

Voldemort sat next to him before finally explaining, "The fertility potion has the side-effect of fluctuating one's hormones, giving way to various mood swings."

 

Harry turned towards Voldemort, making them have an impromptu staring contest, as the Dark Lord continued, "Another side effect is an increased libido."

 

"You have such pretty eyes." Harry stated with an innocent expression on his face, showcasing the first side-effect Voldemort had informed him.

 

Voldemort raised an eyebrow as he inquired warily, "Is my explanation enough to ease your ire at me?"

 

Harry hummed thoughtfully for a moment before admitting, "A bit. I'm not going to ask you to consummate our marriage with your snake now."

 

"Thank you for that." Voldemort drawled.

 

"I'm still a bit crossed though." Harry added, moving his body so that he was fully facing Voldemort, “I’m still thinking of your punishment.”

 

“Will grovelling alleviate your ire?” Voldemort asked seriously.

 

At the solemn expression in his husband’s face, Harry couldn’t help but giggle. He traced Voldemort’s furrowed brows with his point finger as he asked in an amused tone, “Would you even grovel in the first place?”

 

Voldemort’s eyes narrowed as he replied, “No.”

 

“Then answering your question would be a waste of time.” Harry concluded, smiling fondly at Voldemort. Voldemort could feel the fondness seeping from their link. He placed a hand on Harry’s cheek, caressing gently. Harry sighed and closed his eyes, leaning on Voldemort’s hand as he whispered, “I don’t know what I’m feeling right now.”

 

Harry opened his eyes and admitted, “While I was alone, I wanted so badly to punch you.”

 

Harry trailed his point finger from Voldemort’s forehead towards his cheek as he continued, “But now that you’re here, all I can think of is how handsome you are and-“

 

Voldemort twitched when Harry pinched his cheek as he commented, “How your cheekbones look like they could cut glass.”

 

Harry leaned forward and pinched Voldemort’s other cheek as he admitted in a frustrated tone, “I really, really want to kiss you right now.”

 

Voldemort stared at Harry silently and Harry kept pinching his cheeks. A minute passed by and Harry finally giggled, letting go of Voldemort’s cheeks. He rested his arms around Voldemort’s shoulders and asked innocently, “Do you want to kiss me?”

 

“Yes.” Voldemort replied hoarsely, placing his hands on Harry’s waist.

 

Harry leaned forward, their lips just inches away as he whispered, “I’m still debating if I should let you kiss me.”

 

“Do not toy with me, Harry.” Voldemort growled, tightening his grip on Harry’s waist.

 

Harry grinned as he whispered, “You’re the big bad Dark Lord. What’s keeping you from taking what you want?”

 

Harry’s eyes closed when Voldemort closed the gap between their lips as his silent answer to Harry’s challenge. A soft moan left his lips and he placed his hands on Voldemort’s neck as Voldemort deepened their kiss. He felt Voldemort’s tongue press against his and he lightly flicked his tongue against it. Voldemort’s hands began to move downward, leaving goose-bumps all over Harry’s lower body, while their tongues began to dance a waltz Harry has no idea the step to.

 

When the need for air became too much, they parted only until they could press their foreheads together. Harry was breathing heavily, his eyes dilated and his cheeks as red as Voldemort’s eyes. He could feel Voldemort’s hands on the hem of his robes as he whispered, “More. Give me more.”

 

He didn’t need to say anything else. He knew that Voldemort understood what he meant. Harry could feel so much through their link. They were all from Voldemort and he was astonished at how many of these foreign feelings were new to him and he had no name for any of them.

 

All he knew was he wanted more.

 

Voldemort lifted Harry’s robes up as he kissed Harry’s cheek, his lips trailing from Harry’s cheek to his neck. Harry closed his eyes once more and tilted his head, giving Voldemort more access to his neck. Harry gasped when he felt Voldemort’s teeth pierce the skin. Voldemort didn’t waste any time, pulling the robes up. Harry lifted his arms and Voldemort pulled away from Harry’s neck, leaving a bright red mark against the pale neck. Voldemort lifted the robes off Harry before capturing Harry’s lips once more. He didn’t bother to even try to ease Harry to the kiss, plunging his tongue into Harry’s slightly open lips with abandonment. Harry moaned into Voldemort’s mouth as he was slowly pushed down, his arms wrapping around Voldemort’s neck while Voldemort threw Harry’s robes in front of him.

 

They heard something crash to the floor but paid it no heed, too preoccupied by the searing kiss that caused so many foreign emotions to course through Harry. Harry barely felt Voldemort pull away, his eyes closed as he let the emotions dance all over him in a frenzied waltz.

 

He could no longer distinguish which emotions were his and which were Voldemort’s. Every single one of them was so clear and powerful, making Harry’s entire body feel hot and making his heart beat so fast he felt that it might burst out.

 

The soft kisses Voldemort left his body only served to keep Harry delirious.

 

But nothing compared to the sudden feeling of warmth enveloping his cock.

 

Harry gasped and he opened his eyes widely, arching his back as he moaned, “Tom!”

 

Harry could only keep his mouth and his eyes wide open, staring at the ceiling as Voldemort sucked his cock while his thumbs rubbed the sides of Harry’s hips. Harry’s knees began to shake when Voldemort’s tongue began tracing the sensitive vein before sucking only the tip of Harry’s cock which made Harry finally give out a long moan. Harry’s eyes quickly closed and his hands suddenly grabbed Voldemort’s hair, gripping it tightly. Harry let out another moan as Voldemort’s mouth covered his entire cock once more. Not even the loud slurping sounds managed to make Harry feel an ounce of embarrassment.

 

All that mattered was Voldemort’s mouth sending jolts and jolts of pleasure to him. Harry had to tighten his grip on Voldemort’s hair when he felt that devilish tongue trail down from the head to his testicles.

 

He didn’t even know he was sensitive at that part!

 

He was sure that he was gripping Voldemort’s hair so tightly it would have been painful but Voldemort didn’t even pause. He used his hands to pull Harry’s hips until Harry’s legs were resting on his shoulders. Harry knew his neck would be protesting at his current position soon but all he could do was choke back a moan as Voldemort began sucking one of his testicles while his hands began kneading the cheeks of his arse. Harry sucked a breath when he felt something cold wash inside him all of a sudden.

 

“Wha-“ Harry’s words cut off into a strangled moan as he felt Voldemort’s tongue trace the rim. He was so lost in the pleasure and the emotions from both Voldemort and his own to even realize that he was subconsciously clenching and unclenching his hole.

 

Voldemort’s breath was hot against his sensitive skin as he whispered, “Relax.”

 

Harry barely heard him and arched his back when he felt the tip of Voldemort’s tongue enter him. He subconsciously clenched all over the intrusion, causing Voldemort to tighten his grip on his hips but he stilled as he slowly rubbed his thumbs against Harry’s skin. A few seconds later, he felt Harry’s hole relax slightly, giving him leeway to slowly insert more of his tongue inside. Harry closed his eyes once more, focusing on the strange feeling of Voldemort’s tongue inside him.

 

It wasn’t exactly painful. There was a bit of discomfort from having something inside him but Harry didn’t really mind it. He shivered when he felt Voldemort’s lips around his rim, silently informing him that Voldemort’s entire tongue was inside him.

 

He didn’t understand why Voldemort would do such a thing.

 

Until he felt a jolt of intense pleasure wash all over him with just a flick of Voldemort’s tongue. Harry opened his eyes wide and accidently pulled Voldemort’s hair towards him as he let out a strangled moan, earning a quiet grunt from Voldemort.

 

As if to punish him for the painful tug, Voldemort flicked his tongue at that spot once more and Harry could honestly say that he actually forgot everything for just that one moment. Harry could only dumbly stare at the ceiling as he began to pant each time Voldemort pulled slightly out before plunging his tongue back into Harry’s willing hole. Each thrust always pushed at that spot that made Harry clench without meaning to.

 

After a few minutes, Harry swore he sounded like a panting dog. Not that Voldemort was doing any better. He knew his hole was drenched since the squelching sound Voldemort’s tongue made every time it thrust inside him could only be because of Voldemort’s saliva.

 

The pleasure was undeniable yet Harry felt like something was missing. For some reason, he hasn’t even come yet and that only served to frustrate him. Not to mention, with only his head resting on the couch, Harry was starting to feel the pain of his current position.

 

Almost as if he heard Harry’s thoughts (which he most certainly did), Voldemort finally pulled away from abusing his hole. He slowly pushed Harry’s upper body to the couch but kept his legs up. Harry lowered his eyes to stare at Voldemort, trailing his finger through the messy black hair which he knew was entirely his fault from all the tugging he had done before caressing the sides of his face. He rubbed his thumb at the saliva escaping from the right side of his lips, realizing that he was actually, for once in his life, unable to say anything at all.

 

He watched Voldemort lick his own palm before dropping it between Harry’s legs. Harry’s eyes followed his hand, staring at Voldemort hiked his robes up until his hard cock popped out.

 

Harry couldn’t help but be fascinated by the way Voldemort’s hand wrapped around his own cock, rubbing the saliva all over it before rubbing the pre-cum on the tip with his palm in a circular motion then rubbing it all over his hard cock as well. Voldemort leaned forward, placing one hand on the side next to Harry’s head while his other hand gripped Harry’s hips. Harry’s eyes trailed from Voldemort’s cock to his face, staring at the slightly panting older wizard as he felt the tip of his cock against his rim. Voldemort’s eyes were trained at his face and Harry slowly dropped his legs and placed his hands on the back of Voldemort’s neck as he whispered, “Tell me you want me.”

 

“I want you.” Voldemort breathed and Harry stared at his dilated eyes as he leaned down, repeating, “I want you, Harry.”

 

Harry wrapped his legs around Voldemort’s waist as he licked his bottom lip. He pressed his rim against the hard cock, making Voldemort grip his hips tightly. Harry pulled Voldemort by the neck until their lips were just inches away and his own cock was pressing against Voldemort’s stomach, tilting his head slightly as he whispered, “Then have me, my dear Dark Lord. Make me yours.”

 

An animalistic growl escaped Voldemort’s lips as he crashed their lips together and Harry gasped as Voldemort thrust into him. It felt like the air suddenly escaped from his lungs as he felt Voldemort’s entire cock slam inside him without a warning.

 

It was almost as if his words had released the beast inside Voldemort and Harry could only cling unto him as he set a fast animalistic pace, letting the emotions from their link mix to the pain of having something as big as his cock inside him with minimal preparations and the pleasure of that very same cock brought by slamming on that spot while his own cock was getting delicious friction against Voldemort’s stomach.

 

Harry lost himself to this act, his mind no longer working and was simply receiving both the emotions from the link and the reactions his body made. All that mattered was this moment, feeling Voldemort inside him both physically and mentally.

 

He barely even noticed that Voldemort had pulled away from his bruised lips or heard the repetition of his name leaving the Dark Lord’s lips in a hushed breathy tone, drowned by the sound of their skin slapping against one another. He didn’t even notice he was moaning Voldemort’s muggle name repeatedly as well nor did he notice Voldemort’s forehead against his.

 

All that mattered was the feelings and emotions surrounding him.

 

And the magic…

 

Dear Godric, he could feel Voldemort’s magic surrounding them, wrapping around them as if to provide privacy and security at the same time. He always felt that Voldemort’s magic was addicting but this… this was something entirely different.

 

He couldn’t explain it.

 

He felt like was being owned in all aspect. His body was Voldemort’s to do as he wished, his mind was only filled with him, and his magic coiled all over him as if it belonged there.

 

The most surprising thing of all was that Harry didn’t mind. In all honesty, he loved every part of it.

 

The pain had already disappeared long ago, only giving way to pleasure. Voldemort’s emotions served only to intensify the pleasure of his body. His magic was absolutely powerful that Harry felt like he was invincible.

 

He wanted this.

 

It was what was missing since Voldemort started pleasuring him.

 

This was what he had wanted without even realizing it.

 

He wanted Voldemort to give this to him, to keep doing this to him.

 

He didn’t care if it made him feel like he was owned. He wanted the feeling that came from being owned.

 

He wanted…

 

“Tom.” Harry whispered, opening his eyes as he stared at Voldemort, greedily committing to memory his dishevelled hair, the sweat leaving his handsome face and the heavy panting escaping his sly lips. Harry pulled Voldemort closer and rasped, “Make me yours. Come inside me.”

 

Harry’s lips grasped against his as he pleaded, “Make me feel.”

 

Harry captured Voldemort’s lips hungrily, moaning as Voldemort quickened the pace. His own hard cock rubbed against Voldemort’s stomach at each thrust and pleasure rocked his entire body each time Voldemort hit that spot.

 

But it was the strangled moan muffled by their kiss and the tightening of Voldemort’s grip on Harry’s hips as he came inside Harry that drove Harry to his own completion.

 

There was no other way to describe it.

 

There was just a surge of sensory overload that pushed Harry to the edge. Voldemort’s completion rippled to the link and Voldemort’s unfiltered thoughts only served to rattle Harry’s entire being, causing him to come between them.

 

He could feel those intense emotions he had tasted during Tom’s kiss but, this time, it was clearer and Harry couldn’t deny that he wanted it. He wanted to feel it over and over again.

 

Voldemort lost his balance and fell on top of Harry, making Harry grunt slightly at the weight above him but he did not make a move. It was the most intense climax Harry ever had and he knew it was because it wasn’t entirely physical. He didn’t even move even after he felt Voldemort’s lips latch on his neck, sucking and biting the skin lazily.

 

Harry began trying to regulate his breathing as he stared at the ceiling, resting his arms around Voldemort’s shoulders. The link was starting to return to its normal state and Harry wondered if Voldemort had lost control over his own mental barriers during sex or if it was a normal occurrence for the both of them during the act itself. His body was starting to ache all over and with the dying pleasure came the unfortunately realization that his lower back was in pain and soreness were already making its way to Harry’s mind. It wasn’t that bad since Harry had a high pain tolerance. Harry’s throat felt dry as well and he couldn’t help but groan when Voldemort slowly got up, pulling out of Harry. Harry felt Voldemort trace his slightly loose rim with his fingers and wondered if the older wizard was actually planning on another round.

 

If he was, he would be doing all the work.

 

Harry wanted to sleep now.

 

Voldemort let out a low breathy chuckle and Harry felt Voldemort’s fingers grow cooler. Harry sighed and closed his eyes as he felt the fingers soothe his rim, realizing that it was some kind of charm that relaxed the muscles and lessened the throbbing pain he was feeling. He felt Voldemort’s lips on his knee cap then his inner thigh before he felt a cool breeze all over him. Harry shivered slightly at the cleaning charm yet he could still feel Voldemort’s seed inside him. He let Voldemort push him slightly to the right then he felt Voldemort lie down next to him. He sighed as he felt Voldemort wrap his arms around his waist. He was too tired to form real words so he simply leaned towards Voldemort and placed his hands over Voldemort’s. The last thing Harry remembered before falling asleep was Voldemort’s magic wrapped around them and the soft lips on his nape. 

     

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope this smut makes you guys all happy perverts. XD
> 
> Please be reminded that this is a work of fiction. In case of a desire to perform anal sex, please use lots and lots of actual lube and not saliva. In case of a desire to perform rimming, please ensure the one to be rimmed is clean first (Voldemort gets a pass since he wandlessly and silently cast a cleaning spell first)


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